Hollywood actor and fitness guru Mark Wahlberg is being sued by David Beckham after a deal in which the footballer promoted the star’s fitness brand soured and allegedly left the Ballon d’Or netting more than £8 million. of disbursement.
Becks, 48, is suing the actor and his business partners after a partnership with F45, in which the midfielder promoted his own range of personalized training, collapsed in a dispute over shares he claimed he had been promised.
The case has continued for several years after Beckham and golf legend Greg Norman filed cases against F45 in California courts in October 2022, before a judge ruled they had to file separate lawsuits.
Beckham’s firm, David Beckham Ventures Ltd (DBVL), had previously sought compensation of up to $18.85m (£15.2m) from F45, according to documents filed last year.
But the new case now seeks damages directly from Wahlberg’s Mark Wahlberg Investment Group, as well as F45 founders Adam Gilchrist and Rob Deutsch, according to reports.
David Beckham is suing Mark Wahlberg and his business partners over an alleged £8.5million loss on shares in fitness company F45.
Hollywood actor Wahlberg bought a minority stake in F45 in 2019 through his investment company
Beckham’s association with F45 has seen him launch a range of themed workouts, with glossy photographs showing him training with F45-branded fitness equipment.
He also promoted F45 on his personal social media accounts, with a post made days after the deal was signed (above).
Becks and Wahlberg became friends after the soccer player and his family moved to Los Angeles in 2007, when he signed a deal to join Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy.
He then agreed to become a global ambassador for Australian brand F45 in November 2020, with glossy photos showing him training on branded equipment at one of their gyms.
He also shared some posts on his Instagram promoting the F45 to his millions of followers as part of the deal. The posts have since been deleted.
As part of the agreement, DBVL alleges that shares in the company were promised in early 2022, but the shares were not disclosed until months later, when the share price had plummeted from around $12 per share to $3 per share. action.
Beckham’s lawyers claim this cost him up to £8.5 million in potential profits as a result of the delay in issuing the shares promised in the deal.
Sun reports that Wahlberg and his co-defendants intend to dismiss the “fraudulent conduct” allegations as baseless and unsubstantiated.
F45’s US share price has never recovered from its initial price of $16.
The company’s shares are now worth just 15 cents, according to the most recent market data, and the company has been plagued by franchise closures in several countries, including its native Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Wahlberg became a minority shareholder in F45 in 2019 after purchasing a stake in the company through his investment group.
Representatives for Beckham and Wahlberg have been contacted for comment.