Sports entertainment
David Beckham is suing Mark Wahlberg for damages after a brand deal went south with F45 Training, in which the Hollywood A-lister owns a 36 percent interest and is chief commercial officer.
Soccer star's company DP Ventures claims Beckham was 'defrauded' by Wahlberg According to The Sun.
Beckham claims to have lost $10 million out of pocket after shares promised to the legendary footballer were not delivered to him after stock prices collapsed.
He launched Wahlberg's investment firm Mark Wahlberg Investment Group – F45 in Australia in 2012 alongside founders Adam Gilchrist and Rob Deutsch.
The 48-year-old English soccer star agreed to be a global ambassador for F45 – a chain of fitness centers in 60 countries, including the US, which offers “innovative, high-intensity functional group workouts that are fast, fun and deliver results. – driven” – when he visited Los Angeles.
Beckham appeared in several F45 social media posts promoting the brand, however, those posts have since been deleted.
Wahlberg and his co-defendants are asking the judge to dismiss the case and find the claims of “fraudulent conduct” unsubstantiated.
In their motion to dismiss, they said Beckham was placing the blame on everyone but himself.
“The 209-page, 610-paragraph S.A.C [complaint] According to The Sun, “what it lacks in merit, it tries to make up for in length,” reads part of the motion.
Beckham and Wahlberg became friends after the former Manchester United and Los Angeles Galaxy star moved to the same LA neighborhood in 2007.
Wahlberg bought a minority stake in F45 in 2019 through his investment firm FOD Capital.
Beckham originally tried to sue LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, who had issues with the F45, in a court in California in 2022, but a judge ruled they should file separate lawsuits.
F45 Beckham announced the partnership in 2021 and Beckham said in a statement It was Wahlberg who put him in it at the time.
“I've been a fan of the F45 franchise and training model since my friend Mark Wahlberg introduced it,” Beckham said.
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