Popular influencer Logan Paul has filed a lawsuit against YouTuber Stephen Findeisen, also known as Coffeezilla, claiming that Findeisen’s criticism of the CryptoZoo NFT project defamed him.
The CryptoZoo controversy
Logan Paul launched CryptoZoo in 2021, a project that allowed customers to buy “eggs” with Ethereum cryptocurrency. It was intended for these eggs to hatch into creatures with different values, but the project’s gaming component was never implemented. In the end, Paul gave back $2.3 million to dissatisfied customers.
YouTube commentator Stephen Findeisen called Paul a scammer in a number of his videos about CryptoZoo and accused him of misleading his fans. Even after Paul expressed regret to Coffeezilla, the criticism persisted, making Paul file a slander claim against Findeisen in June.
The lawsuit details
The case, which was submitted in San Antonio, Texas, claims that Findeisen distributed false information in an effort to raise his personal reputation and draw in more viewers.
The complaint claims that “Findeisen has perpetuated the false narrative that Paul scammed and defrauded his own fans.” Paul’s legal team asserts that in order to bolster his case, Findeisen disregarded important evidence, including internal communications.
The lawsuit seeks compensatory damages of over $75,000, along with interest and attorney fees, due to the harm caused to Paul’s reputation.
Paul’s defense
Paul claims that Eduardo Ibanez and Jake Greenbaum, two of his advisors, are responsible for the failure of his CryptoZoo project. Paul also claims that he had excellent intentions for it and doesn’t have any plans of scamming his fans. He claims that despite making significant investments to repurchase NFTs, he did not make money from CryptoZoo. Paul has also sued the cofounders and accused them of being scammers.