NFL celeb Tom Brady has been slammed by fans for allegedly helping Sam Bankman-Fried sportswash his now-bankrupt cryptocurrency business.

An author following Bankman-Fried’s complex story claimed the New England Patriots quarterback was paid $55million for just 20 hours of promoting FTX.

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An author writing about tech billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried’s failed company claimed he paid Tom Brady $55million to spend just 20 hours promoting FTXCredit: AP

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Fans have slammed Brady’s decision to back the company that filed for bankruptcy last NovemberCredit: Getty
On Tuesday, Sam Bankman-Fried’s long-awaited trial began.

He stands accused of orchestrating a multibillion-dollar scheme that saw throngs of customers robbed of their investments in his crypto platform.

At one point, FTX, his now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange company, had millions of active users.

But in November 2022, people started pulling out after a bombshell report showed it was not solvent enough to meet financial commitments.

FTX was nearly acquired by its rival Binance, but the company backed out of the deal after claiming that FTX was mismanaging funds.

In December 2022, SBF was arrested from his $300million Bahamas property.

Prosecutors plan to paint the tech billionaire as a Bernie Madoff-style con-artist who did everything in his power to maintain the image of his company.

His alleged behaviors are at the center of the book Going Infinite, written by financial journalist Michael Lewis – the name behind The Blind Side, The Big Short, and Moneyball.

In the book, Lewis claimed he saw internal docs that showed SBF reached out to superstar athletes to encourage people to use FTX and improve their image.

The PR ploy that sought to distract from unsavory business practices is a classic technique known as sportswashing.

The company’s list of talent included Brady, Shaquille O’Neill, and Steph Curry, who all got paid a pretty penny to encourage onlookers to trade crypto on FTX.

“He spent a hundred and something million dollars buying the naming rights for the Miami Heat arena,” Lewis told 60 Minutes.

“He spent $25million making a Super Bowl ad with Larry Davis… It’s breathtaking what’s on that list.”

Lewis guessed that Tom Brady “adored” the CEO and went for the PR opportunity for more than just money.

“Tom Brady thought that he was just a really interesting person,” Lewis said.

“I think he liked to hear what he had to say, and Sam really liked him too.”

Fans have roasted Brady for his relationship with Bankman-Fried, as he and his ex-wife Gisele Bundchen lost $48million in shares after the bankruptcy.

“I’d adore a lot of people if I got $55million for a week too,” one person wrote on X.

Another said: “Well that takes old Tom down several notches.”

“Tom Brady is dumb. Very good at football, but not smart,” someone else said in an X post.

SBF’s team is planning to shift the blame onto FTX lawyers and his ex-girlfriend and former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison as he fights to prove his innocence.

He has been detained since August 11 after a judge found that he had likely engaged in witness tampering.

The trial is expected to last up to six weeks.

Bankman-Fried has also been accused of living in a polyamorous group that helped to run his business.