Former football star, David Beckham has filed a lawsuit against Hollywood actor Mark Wahlberg, seeking $10 million in damages after not receiving the amount as per agreed for the fitness brand deal owned by the actor.
Mark Wahlberg initially bought a stake from the fitness franchise, F45 through the aid of his own investment group, Mark Wahlberg Investment Group (MWIG) in 2019, owning 36% interest of the said company. Later on, he introduced the franchise to David Beckham, having the football star agree to act as the global ambassador for the Australian brand.
The agreement led to the former Real Madrid Ace being featured in F45’ campaigns and with the English footballer’s followers, the brand garnered millions of views. However, things took a twist when David Beckham did not receive the amount he was promised, only to realize the company’s stocks have plummeted.
Hence, the 48 year-old is not only suing the “Family Plan” actor but also the founders of F45, Adam Gilchrist and Rob Deustch. According to the footballer’s lawyers, he has lost a total of more than USD$10,501,452.50 (~RM50,175,940).
Meanwhile, the Academy Award nominee claimed that the allegations made were lacking in evidence and requested for the judge to dismiss the lawsuits presented. Yes, lawsuits! David Beckham isn’t alone in this case as he has teamed up with professional golfer, Greg Norman in suing Mark Wahlberg. Also, there is a separate lawsuit turned in by Terell Owens, former American football star , who stated that F45 took a total of USD$700,000 (RM 3,345,648.51) back in 2017.
By some sources, the fitness brand has actually been listed under New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for not complying to their listing standards. As a result, in 2023, the company announced their delistment from NYSE upon the fall of their share price.
In response, David Beckham has also deleted all contents pertaining to promoting the brand. As for now, there are no updates regarding the case as Mark Wahlberg’s teams are still denying the claims made by the president of Inter Miami CF.
Ariani Soraya contributed to the article.
