Former
New
England
Patriots
and
Tampa
Bay
Buccaneers
tight
end
Rob
Gronkowski
will
pay
$1.9
million
to
settle
claims
brought
against
him
by
former
customers
of
Voyager
Digital,
a
cryptocurrency
lender.
The
settlement,
which
is
still
subject
to
approval
by
the
court
overseeing
the
civil
lawsuit,
will
see
the
National
Football
League
star
known
as
“Gronk”
pay
into
a
$2.4
million
pool
alongside
National
Basketball
Association
player
Victor
Oladipo
and
racecar
driver
Landon
Cassill,
according
to
a
court
filing
dated
May
3.
Gronkowski
became
a
“brand
ambassador,
Voyager
shareholder”
and
holder
of
Voyager’s
VGX
token
in
September
2021,
a
company
press
release
announced
at
the
time.
Voyager
filed
for
bankruptcy
in
2022.
A
group
of
Voyager
investors
sued
Dallas
Mavericks
owner
Mark
Cuban
and
other
Voyager
promoters
that
same
year,
adding
Gronkowski
and
other
promoters
last
year.
The
investors
announced
they
had
reached
a
deal
with
Gronkowski
in
February.
Last
week’s
filing
saw
the
Voyager
investors
announce
that
they
were
ready
to
proceed
with
“the
first
trance
of
proposed
Class
Settlements,”
which
were
made
with
Gronkowski,
Oladipo
and
Cassill.
“Plaintiffs
have
now
settled
with
Voyager
promoters
Cassill,
Gronkowski,
and
Oladipo
for
millions
of
dollars
in
relief
to
the
class
leaving
Co-Defendants
Mark
Cuban
and
the
Dallas
Mavericks
as
the
remaining
Defendants
for
trial
in
November
2024,”
the
filing
said.
According
to
an
accompanying
exhibit,
Gronkowski
will
pay
$1.9
million,
Oladipo
will
pay
$500,000
and
Cassill
will
pay
$25,000
to
settle
the
claims.
If
the
court
approves
the
settlement,
the
claims
against
the
three
will
be
dismissed.
Coincidentally,
the
investors
filed
the
proposed
settlement
with
the
court
just
two
days
before
former
NFL
quarterback
Tom
Brady
–
Gronkowski’s
former
teammate
–
participated
in
a
comedic
roast,
which
saw
several
comedians
and
other
stars
comment
on
Brady’s
previous
crypto
endorsements,
though
without
mentioning
FTX,
Sam
Bankman-Fried’s
defunct
exchange
Brady
promoted.
Comedian
Kevin
Hart
joked
that
the
roast
was
taking
place
at
the
Kia
Forum
and
not
the
Crypto.com
Arena
to
avoid
reminding
people
Brady
owed
them
money,
while
fellow
comedian
Nikki
Glaser
took
a
more
pointed
approach.
“Tom
also
lost
$30
million
in
crypto.
Tom,
how
did
you
fall
for
that?
I
mean,
even
Gronk
was
like,
‘Me
know
that
not
real
money,'”
she
said.
