American influencer Logan Paul has filed a defamation suit against Coffeezilla, real name Stephen Findeisen, a YouTuber covering various scams on his channel. He made a series of videos in 2022 that shined light on Logan’s failed CryptoZoo project, a game that was to incorporate cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and other on-chain elements.
Many of its investors had their investments crash—Logan sold the project’s NFTs to them, which would find utility in CryptoZoo. However, the game’s development was abandoned, and the NFTs’ prices dropped tremendously alongside the project’s native ZOO tokens. ZOO was the project’s utility token, and users could buy animal-themed NFTs in the game with it. CryptoZoo’s investors voiced their opinions but did not receive any resolutions.
Coffeezilla’s three-part video series about the situation was viewed by millions, leading to large swaths of people calling Logan out on ignoring CryptoZoo’s investors. His coverage of the topic got Logan to respond, claiming the developers and advisors for this project were motivated by self-profits and abandoned the project abruptly after receiving funds. Moreover, Logan mentioned that his involvement in the project was minimal.
Nevertheless, Coffeezilla’s exposé about the issue pushed Logan to announce a $1.5 million recovery plan that never materialized. Months later, he set up a $1 million buyback program through which he would refund CryptoZoo NFT holders. But those accepting money from this program would have to relinquish their rights to sue Logan for the CryptoZoo fiasco, among other conditions. He also added that he made no revenue from the incomplete development of the game and token sales.
Now, he claims CryptoZilla’s videos defamed him by omitting essential information in his content that made it seem like Logan was not committed to rectifying the situation. The suit read, “Paul brings this defamation suit to hold Findeisen accountable for his actions and to hold him liable for the immense harm that he has caused to Paul’s reputation through the intentional and reckless dissemination of defamatory falsehoods.”
It was filed in a District Court in San Antonio, Texas, and demands CryptoZilla cover Logan’s reputational damages by paying “an excess of $75,000, as well as interest, reasonable attorneys’ fees, and costs, as allowed by law.” Logan claimed that he planned to sue CryptoZilla in 2022 but did not do so because he was focusing on rectifying the situation instead.
Image by Sergei Tokmakov, Esq. https://Terms.Law from Pixabay
