Taylor Swift signed $100 million FTX deal only for Sam Bankman-Fried to pull out, report says

A new report corrects a story that first surfaced in April surrounding superstar singer Taylor Swift’s dealings with Sam Bankman-Fried’s collapsed crypto exchange FTX.

Attorney Adam Moskowitz, who is leading a class action lawsuit against celebrities endorsing FTX, said in an interview in the spring that Swift pulled out of a $100 million tour sponsorship deal with FTX after questioning the status of cryptocurrencies as unregistered securities. had drawn.

This led to a slew of headlines congratulating Swift for sidestepping the financial mess that became FTX, with many citing her father’s financial career as guiding her through the decision-making process.

However, in a new feature, reports the New York Times that the Bad Blood singer did indeed sign a $100 million deal with Bankman-Fried, only for him to back out, something that left her and her team “frustrated and disappointed.”

Moskowitz told the Times this week that he didn’t know the intricacies of Swift’s interaction with Bankman-Fried.

A new New York Times report says it was actually Sam Bankman-Fried who backed out of the deal at the last minute

In an April podcast interview, Moskowitz had said that Swift backed out of any deal with FTX over her questions about unregistered securities.

According to the Times, negotiations between Swift and FTX reps lasted about six months as the two camps discussed a number of promotional ideas before agreeing on the idea of ​​the company sponsoring its Eras Tour, which is expected to raise its first ever $1 billion. will be. tour.

Moskowitz made his comments while appearing on The Scoop podcast with David Chaparro.

“The only person I found who did that was Taylor Swift. Upon our discovery, Taylor Swift actually asked them, “Can you tell me these aren’t unregistered securities?” Moskowitz said in an interview about his lawsuit against FTX.

Among those participating in the story was Twitter owner Elon Musk. “Taylor is smart and her father is a respected investment banker,” the South African tweeted.

“I have an excellent father, his strength makes me stronger,” Swift sang on her track The Best Day.

Swift’s father, Scott, worked for Merrill Lynch for more than 30 years in a variety of roles, including as a stockbroker and investment banker.

When the family moved to Hendersonville, Tennessee from Pennsylvania to support the singer’s career, he transferred to the company’s Nashville office.

Swift began talks with FTX representatives in late 2021 about the company that might sponsor her tour

Swift’s father, Scott, pictured here with his daughter, worked for Merrill Lynch for more than 30 years in a variety of roles, including as a stockbroker and investment banker

Swift began talks with FTX representatives in late 2021 about the company potentially sponsoring her tour, the Financial Times reported last year.

One of the topics of conversation was the idea of ​​selling concert tickets for her Eras Tour as NFTs. An FTX staffer told the FT, “Nobody really likes the deal” because it was “too expensive from the start.”

‘[The cost of the deal] was very high… really damn high. Those are the prices at the level of the football shirt,” said a former director.

Among those actively seeking the deal were FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and senior executive Claire Watanabe.

A security is an asset that can be traded, such as a stock or bond. Securities traded in the United States are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC said in December that FTX’s cryptocurrency was a security, but it was not properly registered.

FTX went bankrupt in November when the global exchange ran out of money after the equivalent of a bank run.

Founder Sam Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to charges that he defrauded investors and looted client deposits to make lavish real estate purchases, make campaign contributions to politicians and make high-risk trades at Alameda Research, his cryptocurrency hedge fund trading firm.

Three former FTX executives have pleaded guilty to fraud charges and are cooperating with investigators.

Moskowitz’s lawsuit is seeking damages from Bankman-Fried along with several celebrities who promoted FTX, including David, the creator of TV shows Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

David starred in a commercial for FTX that aired during the 2022 Super Bowl portraying fictional characters who rejected major innovations throughout history and ended with the message “Don’t Miss Out on Crypto.”

It is also seeking damages from a National Basketball Association team that promoted FTX, the Golden State Warriors.

The celebrities and the Warriors said in court documents filed in April that they never pitched the accounts at issue in the case and did not cause the investors’ losses.