Drake accused of manipulating streaming play counts with bots in new lawsuit

Drake’s relationship with online “social casino” Stake.us is facing new legal scrutiny. The rapper was named in a federal lawsuit that claims he helped promote an illegal real-money online casino and used it to quietly transfer money tied to a scheme to artificially boost music streaming numbers.

Plaintiffs LaShawnna Ridley and Tiffany Hines filed a class action lawsuit last week in a Virginia federal court against Stake.us parent company Sweepsteaks Limited, as well as Drake, online streamer Adin Ross and George Nguyen, an alleged facilitator of the botting scheme.

The lawsuit claims the defendants misrepresented Stake while they were paid to promote it, causing “harm to consumers across the Commonwealth who lost real money while pursuing gaming winnings on the Stake platform.”

It also accuses Drake, Ross and Nguyen of transferring “money between each other, using Stake’s ‘Tipping’ program.” »

The plaintiffs allege that this conduct violates the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and Virginia consumer protection laws. The plaintiffs are seeking at least $5 million, as well as reimbursement for users, disgorgement of profits they claim were wrongly earned, court orders to stop the alleged conduct, and additional damages under federal law.

“Stake.us preys on consumers in Virginia and across the country who are lured by real money gambling, exposing them to significant risks of gambling addiction and jeopardizing the financial well-being of themselves and their families,” the lawsuit claims.

A crucial point in the case concerns the operation of Stake.us. The company describes itself as a social casino where users can buy what it calls “gold coins” to play digital casino games like slots and poker. These coins cannot be exchanged for cash, but users also receive “Stake Cash” through group purchases of gold coins, daily login bonuses, and promotions.

Once users meet certain conditions, such as wagering their Stake Cash multiple times, it can be exchanged for real money. The lawsuit argues that this structure makes Stake.us indistinguishable from real-money online gambling, which is illegal in Virginia and many other states.

The complaint also alleges that Drake and Ross were paid by Stake to promote the site and participated in live streams showing them gambling with large sums of money provided by the company itself.

“In other words, although Drake and Ross claimed to be gambling with their own Stake Cash, it was actually provided to them by the house,” the lawsuit states.

Drake signed an endorsement deal with Stake in 2022 that was worth it 100 million dollars per year. Drake later publicly complained about the platform’s problems withdrawing money, although a Instagram post of October indicated that the ox may have since been crushed.

Beyond the gambling allegations, the lawsuit further claims that Drake, Ross and Nguyen transferred profits to each other through Stake’s tipping feature and used that money to fund bots that artificially boosted Drake’s music streaming numbers on platforms like Spotify.

This isn’t the first lawsuit challenging Drake’s relationship with Stake.us. A separate complaint filed in October in Missouri also names Drake and Ross as defendants and similarly accuses them of misrepresenting Stake.us’ alleged gaming operations.

Stake.us and representatives for Drake did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s requests for comment.