Hollywood actor and fitness guru Mark Wahlberg is being sued by David Beckham after a deal that saw the footballer promote the star's fitness brand turned sour - and allegedly left Golden Balls more than £8million out of pocket.
via: Complex
Per TMZ, the legendary soccer star’s company, DB Ventures Ltd., filed a lawsuit claiming Walhberg’s Mark Wahlberg Investment Group “duped” Beckham into doing business with the fitness company in which the actor has a 36% interest and is on the board of directors. Beckham agreed to be a global ambassador once he became friends with Wahlberg after moving to Los Angeles.
According to the lawsuit, Beckham lost $10 million when stocks he was owed in the deal with the company weren’t given to him until after the stock’s price had fallen. Beckham is also suing F45’s founders Adam Gilchrist and Rob Deutsch.
Wahlberg and his co-defendants asked to dismiss the lawsuit they described as “fraudulent conduct” but a judge ruled against them.
The partnership between Beckham and F45 began in 2021 with the company announcing it in a since-deleted post on Instagram. “Welcome to the F45 fam @davidbeckham This is just the beginning of our journey together, we hope you’re all ready for what’s to come #F45 #F45Training,” the company wrote.
F45 Training also said Beckham would be a major part of their “brand marketing initiative to support its continued expansion.”
Beckham isn’t the only athlete who sued F45 Training. Former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens sued them in 2017, claiming the company never paid him the $700,000 he was promised in a promotional video deal.
I don't understand why David would go into business with someone who dissed him back in 2009.
Here's what Mark had to say when David and Victoria decided to move from the UK to the US, and brought the paparazzi with them:
“I’m not telling Beckham to take his family home. I’m just not sure why he came to America in the first place,” Wahlberg told Daily Mail in 2009. “Man, we don’t want your soccer. There’s no way Americans are going to buy the idea of 90 minutes of running around without much happening.
Thanks for trying guys, but we’ll stick to baseball and basketball.”