the pop star Taylor Swift could have been one of the faces of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX if talks about a $100 million deal hadn’t ended early.
According to a December 7 Financial Times note, FTX was negotiating an endorsement deal with Swift months before its cash crisis and subsequent bankruptcy. Talks to pay Swift $100 million for being one of the exchange’s famous faces reportedly fell through on FTX’s part, due to concerns that the deal didn’t offer great benefits.
“None of the parties liked the agreement,” says an anonymous person familiar with the negotiations. “It was too expensive from the start.”
Other concerns of FTX staff included that Swift, one of the biggest names in showbiz, would not reach the exchange’s target audience of retail crypto investors. Apparently, the singer never got a chance to seriously consider the deal before the talks ended.
Before its bankruptcy in November, celebrities from the world of sports and entertainment, including tennis star Naomi Osaka, NFL quarterback Tom Brady and NBA point guard Stephen Curry, had promoted FTX’s services through television ads and social networks, among others. Comedian Larry David also starred in an ad that aired during Super Bowl LVI in February, encouraging viewers not to “miss the next big thing.”
According to a Bloomberg story from November, the Texas Securities Board was investigating Brady, David, Curry and others over payments they received from FTX for their endorsements. Celebrities have also been the subject of at least one investor class action lawsuit following the FTX bankruptcy.
Swift has seemingly stayed out of the crypto space during her time as a public figure, though the singer knows the power of owning one’s own data, or in this case, the rights to their music. The pop star re-recorded and re-released many of her albums in 2021 following a dispute with one of her former labels.
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