Larry David addresses controversial FTX 2022 Super Bowl commercial: “Like an idiot, I did it”

Larry David expressed some contrition over taking part in a high-profile 2022 Super Bowl commercial for the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, the founder of which was last year found guilty of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering.

“You know, I asked people, friends of mine who were well-versed in this stuff, ‘Should I do this ad? Is there anything wrong with this, me doing this? Is this okay?'” David told The Associated Press on Tuesday at the Los Angeles premiere of the final season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” which David created and stars in.

“And they said ‘Yeah, this is totally on the up and up. Yeah. It’s fine. Do it.’ So, like an idiot, I did it,” he said.

The commercial, which aired during the 2022 Super Bowl, features the “Seinfeld” co-creator casting doubt on a number of inventions and ideas throughout history, including the wheel, the fork, coffee, the lightbulb and space travel. 

Finally, David is presented with FTX, to which he responds, “I don’t think so. And I’m never wrong about this stuff.” Viewers are then advised not to miss out on “the next big thing.”

A proposed class-action lawsuit filed in federal court in Florida in 2022 accused David, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and celebrities such as NFL quarterback Tom Brady and supermodel Gisele Bundchen of defrauding investors who lost money in the cryptocurrency exchange’s sudden collapse. Brady and Bundchen were among the athletes and entertainers who promoted FTX as part of the exchange’s $20 million ad campaign.

“I mean, a class action lawsuit, which I would love to be part of, cause part of my salary was in crypto,” David told AP at the premiere. “So I lost a lot of money.”

In court papers filed in April 2023, David and the celebrities named asked for the case to be dismissed, saying they did not cause investors’ losses, Reuters reported.

Bankman-Fried was found guilty late last year on seven counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering, charges that each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. He was also convicted of conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud, which each carry a five-year maximum sentence.

“Sam Bankman-Fried perpetrated one of the biggest frauds in American history, a multibillion-dollar scheme designed to make him the king of crypto,” Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a news briefing following the verdict. “Here’s the thing: the cryptocurrency industry might be new. The players like Sam Bankman-Fried might be new. This kind of fraud, this kind of corruption, is as old as time, and we have no patience for it.” 

—Kate Gibson contributed reporting.