Drake Sued for Endorsing ‘Unlawful’ Gambling Platform: ‘Deeply Fraudulent’
Drake and online streamer Adin Ross are facing a class action lawsuit accusing them of promoting illegal gambling by endorsing the online sweepstake casino Stake.
In a case filed Monday (Oct. 27), lawyers for a Missouri man say Drake, Ross and Stake engaged in “deceptive, fraudulent and unfair” practices in the state — and that Champagne Papi used his massive celebrity to “encourage impressionable users to gamble.”
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“Drake’s role as Stake’s unofficial mascot is quietly corrosive — he’s glamorizing the platform to millions of impressionable fans, many of whom treat his wild betting habits like gospel,” write lawyers for plaintiff Justin Killham.
Stake is a so-called sweepstakes casino that operates on a “dual currency” system, which critics say is designed to evade gambling regulations. Such platforms sell “gold coins” that they claim are purely for entertainment, then offer separate free “sweeps coins” that can be redeemed for cash, meaning neither constitutes full-fledged gambling. California, New Jersey and other states have moved to rein in the practice, either with new legislation or beefed-up enforcement of existing state gambling laws.
The case filed Monday claims that Stake, a Curaçao-based livestream gambling platform, violated Missouri’s gambling laws with that kind of system. The site tried to mislead consumers, the lawsuit claims, “into believing it offers harmless gameplay instead of an unlawful gambling platform.”
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The complaint also claims that the company paid Drake and Ross millions to promote that illegal operation. But lawyers for the plaintiffs say the stars have done so under “deeply fraudulent pretenses,” including fronting the stars’ “house money” to risk.
“When Ross and Drake purport to gamble online with Stake.com, they often do not do so with their own money despite telling the public in Missouri and elsewhere the opposite,” Killham’s lawyers write. “Stake’s and Drake’s and Ross’s conduct here threatens the welfare of Missouri residents and especially its young people.”
Representatives for Drake and Stake did not return Billboard‘s requests for comment by press time. A representative for Ross could not immediately be located.
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