Controversial influencer Logan Paul sues fraud investigation expert Coffeezilla for defamation

Million-subscriber YouTuber Coffeezilla, known for exposing scams and frauds, recently got into trouble when internet celebrity Logan Paul hired five lawyers to sue him for defamation. Coffeezilla's most famous YouTube series is the expose on FTX exchange founder Sam Bankman Fried's scandal 

Coffeezilla Exposes NFT Scam by Crypto Zoo

In September 2021, Logan Paul released Crypto Zoo NFTs, claiming his NFTs were unique handcrafted artworks unlike the junk seen in the market, with the promise that they would have future collectible value. The project raised a total of $2 million. However, upon the release of the NFTs, they turned out to be crude dinosaur egg JPG files, causing disappointment among buyers. The promised game development also failed to materialize.

In 2022, Coffeezilla produced a series of videos exposing Logan Paul and his team for their questionable practices in promoting Crypto Zoo and subsequently faced a collective lawsuit from investors. Crypto Zoo, launched in 2021, remained stagnant for three years with Logan Paul blaming the delay on the development team and engineers, accusing them of taking $1 million without delivering the promised features. However, the development team had left after the project's launch in 2021, while Logan continued to promote the Crypto Zoo tokens.

Following Coffeezilla's revelations about the Crypto Zoo project scam, Logan Paul released an apology video thanking Coffeezilla for the criticism and proposed a three-step plan to refund $1.3 million to disappointed "players." However, as of now, Logan Paul has only refunded some NFT holders and not the investors in Crypto Zoo tokens.

In June of this year, Logan Paul unexpectedly filed a defamation lawsuit against Coffeezilla, who had previously received an apology from him. In a new video, Coffeezilla mentioned that this was in retaliation for his investigation into the Liquid Marketplace after their previous dispute.

Liquid Marketplace Accused of Being a Shell Company

Liquid Marketplace was accused by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) in Canada of being a multi-level fraud scheme. The OSC filed a lawsuit against Liquid Marketplace, based in Toronto, and its executives for illegally distributing securities, engaging in unregistered trading, and operating an exchange, constituting a multi-level marketing fraud in the cryptocurrency sector, violating Canada's securities laws. Although Logan Paul's name was not mentioned in the charges, the documents revealed that the company was a shell company that raised over $10 million from investors and misappropriated $3 million, providing funds and loans to the company's founders. Logan Paul was a co-founder of Liquid Marketplace.

Legal Experts' View on Coffeezilla's Case

Under Texas law, the four conditions for a defamation case to stand are: 1. Accusing someone of contracting a contagious disease 2. Accusing someone of a crime 3. Making statements that harm their work or profession 4. Actual damages

In Logan Paul's case in Puerto Rico and Coffeezilla's company registered in Texas, Logan Paul and his legal team strategically filed a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) against Coffeezilla in a Texas court, aiming to have Coffeezilla retract his online statements. Note: Laws vary among U.S. states, and this law applies to Texas.

The Texas SLAPP provision targets "strategic lawsuits" against negative reviews, essentially preventing an individual or group from exercising their First Amendment right to free speech by filing strategic lawsuits to make the defendant give up public criticism due to the financial, time, and energy costs of enduring a lengthy legal process. In simpler terms, it is a lawsuit filed with the intention of silencing Coffeezilla rather than winning a case.

Legal experts interviewed Coffeezilla's lawyer regarding this defamation case. He believed that Logan Paul's defamation claim essentially confirmed the credibility of Coffeezilla's investigation and statements about Crypto Zoo. With multiple financial fraud cases pending against Logan Paul, it could further disadvantage him in the collective lawsuit for the Crypto Zoo scam.

On the other hand, the lawyer believed that Coffeezilla's case might ultimately be dismissed by the court. He also called on fans to support Coffeezilla in standing up against Logan Paul and not allowing Coffeezilla to be silenced.