*** UPDATE ***
Paul has apologized to Coffee and dropped all threats.
*** END UPDATE ***
I know most of my loyal fans have no interest in Coffeezilla, Logan Paul, or CryptoZoo but I’m afraid that’s today’s topic.
In reality, my discussion is more about defamation lawsuits and frivolous lawsuits. It’s an interesting topic to me because it comes down to wealthy people using the law to stifle those who criticize them. It’s not something new and it’s growing.
Who is Logan Paul
Logan Paul is a media personality, athlete, and actor who specializes in self-promotion. There’s nothing wrong with someone hustling to promote themselves and make some money. Paul did so in questionable ways in the past; filming a corpse of someone who committed suicide and posting it on his YouTube channel as an example.
He’s largely been successful in his promotional activity and has a big following on YouTube.
What is CryptoZoo
CryptoZoo is a project headed by Logan Paul. In it he hoped to make a game where people purchased digital eggs, largely in the hopes of making a profit. Eggs were sold for millions of dollars. The game has thus far not materialized and several people involved in the project have lengthy criminal backgrounds.
Several of those people apparently made off with a great deal of the money although Paul is not one of them.
Who is Coffeezilla
Coffeezilla is a YouTube personality who specializes in exposing scams. He became interested in this when any number of people tried to scam his ill mother with phony cures. His coverage of several large financial situations including FTX and Save the Kids Token earned him a great deal of respect in the industry and he is now well-regarded.
What’s the Point of all this Tom-o?
I know you’ve been reading for a while and now I’ll get to the point. Coffeezilla ran a three-part episode in which he indicated his opinion that CryptoZoo was largely a scam from the beginning. The developers hired for the project had little or no ability to deliver the project. Millions of dollars in sales were made with only basic development on the project. Meanwhile Paul, when confronted with angry investors demanding refunds, continually claimed it would soon be finished.
Coffeezilla declared the entire project largely a scam from the beginning. Paul claims he too is a victim of the scam as his developer and main stakeholders absconded with most of the money. Paul is now threatening to sue Coffeezilla for defamation.
This is my point. Paul is quite likely guilty of mismanagement at the best. He’s probably lucky he didn’t cash out, like his partners, as there might well be fraud charges if he had done so. The point of the lawsuit is, I suspect, to silence Coffeezilla and Paul is not alone in using this tactic.
Frivolous Lawsuits
Frivolous litigation in the United States was once framed as lawsuits filed against big business in order to delay a particular activity. Weirdo crackpots trying to stop progress. If a judge determines a suit is frivolous the person filing might have to pay the legal fees of the other party and also face a fine.
In reality the law has been twisted from its original intent. Now, wealthy people and companies file such suits forcing their critics to hire expensive lawyers and spend a great deal of time, effort, and money to defend themselves. Meanwhile, if the suit is determined to be frivolous, it’s not a big deal to the wealthy person who can afford such activity, it’s simply the price of doing business.
If they can silence critics, force settlements for smaller sums from those who run out of money to defend themselves, cover-up wrongdoing, etc., why not file?
Cryptozoo Case
I’m not a lawyer. I can’t say whether a case against Coffeezilla brought by Paul will be successful, a failure, or determined frivolous. That being said, it seems extremely frivolous to my eyes. Paul has to prove Coffeezilla intentionally lied and from the videos I’ve seen, Coffeezilla did quite a bit of research and appears to believe his assertions completely. He makes a convincing argument.
Paul, on the other hand, seems largely eager to silence a critic using his financial advantages.
Conclusion
The law is perverted to help the rich, again. We’ve got a problem in this country and it’s with the legal system. The system was designed to be blind. To help the poor get justice when they are in the right. It’s not working anymore.
Tom Liberman
