Making his silver screen debut with Andrew Davis’ 1988 crime action, Above the Law, Steven Seagal has had several run-ins with the law over the past few decades. The actor has not only grown to be one of the most controversial figures in Hollywood but has also been the subject of several lawsuits. In 2020, he was charged with unlawfully promoting cryptocurrency investment on his social media and was fined to pay over $300,000 to settle charges.
Steven Seagal Accused of Illegally Promoting Cryptocurrency
The Security and Exchange Commission charged the Hollywood actor Steven Seagal with unlawfully touting the cryptocurrency for the B2G, which said in a 2018 statement that the actor became a “believer” in and “brand ambassador” for the brand.
The SEC has stated that the social media promotions of stocks and investments by any celebrity or any other social media user would be considered unlawful if they failed to disclose the compensation they received for the endorsement. The 71-year-old actor also failed to disclose that he was promised to be paid in both cash and cryptocurrency for endorsing it online.
“Celebrities are not allowed to use their social media influence to tout securities without appropriately disclosing their compensation,” Kristina Littman, Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Cyber Unit, said. The martial artist reportedly promoted the cryptocurrency to his 6.7 million followers on Facebook and 535,000 followers on Instagram along with Twitter.
None of these posts revealed that the actor was paid for the promotions. A spokesperson for the actor later revealed that his agreement with the company allowed people associated with the B2G to post on his social media. However, after he became concerned about its authenticity, he terminated his agreement with the company.
Steven Seagal Was Charged to Pay $314,000 For Settlement
To promote the cryptocurrency on social media, Steven Seagal was promised to be paid a total of $1 million, including $250,000 in cash and $750,000 in Bitcoin tokens. However, he claimed that he was only paid a portion of the promised compensation, $157,000.
He agreed to pay back $157,000 with pre-judgmental interest along with a penalty of the same amount he received for the promotions, $314,000 in total. The Chief of the SEC Enforcement Division’s Cyber Unit also said that the “investors were entitled to know about payments Seagal received or was promised to endorse this investment so they could decide whether he may be biased.”
The actor’s spokesperson stated that The Patriot actor considered it “a case of someone paying a celebrity for the use of his image to promote a product.” He also claimed that Seagal had been very cooperative with the investigation and had agreed to stay away from similar promotions for the next three years.
Source: Variety
