Influencer Logan Paul filed a defamation lawsuit on Thursday against Stephen Findeisen, who goes by “Coffeezilla” on YouTube, over videos he produced about Paul’s failed CryptoZoo non-fungible token (NFT) project in 2022.
The June 27 suit filed in a San Antonio, Texas District Court claimed Findeisen “maliciously and repeatedly [published] false statements accusing Paul of operating a scam in connection with a troubled blockchain project called CryptoZoo.”
“Paul brings this defamation suit to hold Findeisen accountable for his actions and to hold him liable for the immense harm that he has caused to Paul’s reputation through the intentional and reckless dissemination of defamatory falsehoods,” according to the filing.
Starting in late 2022, Coffeezilla released three YouTube videos on CryptoZoo, calling it “Logan Paul’s biggest scam” — and accusing the influencer of defrauding his fans by keeping the money of NFT holders without delivering the rest of the promised project.
But Paul claims Coffeezilla purposefully omitted information in his videos that proved Paul was “deeply committed” to CryptoZoo’s success but was “deceived by several of the project’s trusted advisers who turned out to be conmen." The filing adds:
“Findeisen knew full well that Paul had never set out to scam anybody, but to the contrary had always intended to build a legitimate blockchain-based game.”
Paul instead puts the blame for the project on Eduardo “Eddie” Ibanez, who he says “turned out to be a charlatan” who lied about his credentials, and Jake Greenbaum, an adviser that was “more interested in trying to personally profit than in helping to create a legitimate project.”
Cointelegraph contacted Ibanez and Greenbaum for comment. Findeisen could not immediately be reached for comment.
Logan Paul once dropped defamation threats against Coffeezilla
Paul said he considered suing Findeisen in late 2022 but later stood down to focus on “trying to make things right” with a $1.5 million recovery plan for CryptoZoo.
He was later “left disappointed” when his efforts “failed to materialize” and spent $1 million to buy back the NFTs between January and March despite having not “earned any money from the project whatsoever,” the suit said.
Paul is seeking damages in excess of $75,000 plus interest and lawyer fees, along with additional damages and relief as determined by the court.
CryptoZoo first rolled out in 2021 and was meant to be a game where players buy NFT “eggs” using the game’s token, ZOO. The eggs would “hatch” into animals that can be bred to create hybrid animals that could be traded and earn players more ZOO tokens, depending on their rarity.
The ZOO token is effectively down 100%, with a market capitalization of zero and 1 cent in volume in the past day, according to CoinMarketCap.