TL;DR
- Drake and Adin Ross are being sued for promoting the crypto casino Stake.us.
- The lawsuit alleges that Stake operates as an illegal gambling site in Missouri.
- The promotion is accused of attracting young people to “significant financial risks.”
Canadian rapper Aubrey Graham, globally known as Drake, faces new legal problems. This week, a class-action lawsuit was filed against him and internet personality Adin Ross, accusing them of promoting the online cryptocurrency casino Stake under “deeply fraudulent pretenses.”
The lawsuit was filed in a Missouri county court by Justin Killham, a user of Stake.us, the company’s US subsidiary. The core of the accusation maintains that the platform, promoted as a “social casino,” is actually an unlicensed online gambling operation that violates Missouri state laws.
The plaintiffs allege that the celebrities’ promotion directly exposed younger consumers to “significant risks of financial ruin, psychological distress, and gambling addiction.”
Stake.us presents itself as a social casino where users play with purchased “Gold Coins” that, in theory, have no real monetary value. However, the platform also offers “Stake Cash” packages, a digital currency that can be redeemed at a one-to-one ratio for US dollars and can also be wagered in the games.
Stake’s Business Model Questioned
The lawsuit argues that the real product Stake is selling is “Stake Cash,” not “Gold Coins.” “The Gold Coins simply serve to deceive regulators and attract players under the guise of ‘safe’ entertainment,” the legal document states.
Drake’s prolonged and lucrative promotion of Stake, which has reportedly earned him millions of dollars annually, has been a key factor in expanding the site’s popularity, especially among young people.
This new class-action lawsuit against Drake comes at a legally complicated time for the artist, who is simultaneously fighting to revive a dismissed defamation lawsuit related to the Kendrick Lamar song “Not Like Us.” The Missouri accusation seeks to hold the rapper accountable for his involvement in promoting what the plaintiffs consider an illegal and predatory gambling platform.
