Author: Aron Solomon

Bored Ape Yikes Club What do bored apes have in common with a disgraced crypto platform? The answer is lawsuits. Following the rash of lawsuits aimed at celebrity endorsers of SBF’s FTX, this week brought lawsuits against similarly-situated celebrities and influencers who pumped up Bored Ape Yacht Club’s NFTs. Both the FTX and BAYC suits are just beginning, so I’m going to share some opening ideas here, first, in Today’s Esquire. I see a massive difference between the FTX and BAYC celebrity endorsements. FTX was, though it seems ridiculous in hindsight, a respected crypto platform, seen as relatively safe and…

https://youtu.be/1sdbH0JE91Y Our chief legal analyst, Aron Solomon, was on FOX LIveNOW this morning to discuss Brittney Griner’s release from her wrongful imprisonment in Russia and the prospects for fellow detainee Paul Whelan’s release.

Prisoner Swapped My Thursday morning tweet summed it up: After ten months of wrongful detention in the former Soviet Union, Brittney Griner was sent from Moscow to the UAE, in transit to the United States, as part of a prison exchange for “Merchant of Death,” Viktor Bout. Scenes from the prisoner swap on a tarmac in the United Arab Emirates were surreal. Left behind is Paul Whelan, the former Marine who has been in Russian captivity since December, 2018. Griner’s wife, Cherelle, shared the Thursday morning stage with President Biden, acknowledging the hard work the Biden administration did to secure…

Should the USMNT Have Been Defaulted In a Monday Twitter rant, I dived into a new World Cup scandal. The official Twitter account of the U.S. Men’s National Team posted the flag of Iran, first having removed the Islamic Republic symbol from the flag, as you can see here: In response to what they saw as desecration of their flag, Iran state media immediately threw down the gauntlet, asking FIFA to suspend the USMNT for ten games, which would obviously give them a win in their make-or-break match on Tuesday, eliminating them from the tournament. As we know, on Tuesday,…

Was Elizabeth Holmes’s Sentence Fair? Last Friday, Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced to 135 months for her role as Theranos’ founder and CEO, in making numerous misrepresentations to potential investors about Theranos’s financial condition and its prospects. Attorney Lauren Scardella, who practices criminal defense law, points out that “the 135 month sentence fits well within the sentencing guidelines for the crimes she was convicted of.” A superb NPR piece this week highlighted exactly why Holmes was sentenced as she was and echoes what I have said for the past year on many TV appearances, including this one on FOX Business. The…

What the FTX Happened? What a week for those who are wary that cryptocurrency might be one massive scam and legal black hole. Sam Bankman-Fried, son of a Stanford law professor and a law professor who is also a highly-regarded political fundraiser, saw his net worth plummet this week to zero from a peak of $26,5 billion, as per Forbes. Known by many as simply SBF, he put FTX into bankruptcy last Friday, driven by up to $2 billion of missing client funds, in what appeared to some to be the work of company insiders. Bankman-Fried also secretly transferred $10…

Cutting Down the Nets. The Brooklyn Nets have won less than half their games in this young season, which is markedly better than they’re doing off the court. After firing head coach Steve Nash, the Nets leaked information that suspended Celtics head coach Ime Udoka would soon take over the team. That landed like a lead balloon as Udoka was suspended for sexual misconduct. So, finally, on Wednesday, the Nets announced that interim head coach Jacque Vaughn would get the job. All of this is happening with Kyrie Irving under an indefinite suspension for conduct detrimental to the team -…

On Tuesday, midterm elections will shape the landscape for years to come. Of particular interest to me is the Senate, which is going to have some very interesting races wrap up next week and beyond. I look at a lot of polls, both aggregators of polls such as ABC’s FiveThirtyEight, as well as a range of independent polls that are more aligned to the interests of the two major parties. I think that when it comes to polls, reading them widely is the way to go. The seats that are being retained in the 100-seat Senate chamber are: Republican: 29…

As the Washington Post reported earlier this long, hot, summer, a pregnant Texas woman who was driving along in the HOV lane on Dallas’ Central Expressway, was given a ticket for not having a passenger with her. Brandy Bottone, 34 weeks pregnant, argued that her vehicle did indeed fit the HOV lane definition as she did have a passenger. You guessed it – her unborn child. According to another report by NBC Dallas-Ft. Worth, Bottone said: “Well (I’m) not trying to throw a political mix here, but with everything going on (with Roe v. Wade), this counts as a baby.”…

The year is 2030. Most humans have been replaced by machines in U.S. warehouses and factories. Millions of Americans are out of work and struggling to find jobs as robots pack, sort, ship, and carry out the myriad duties that just ten years ago were the purview of living, breathing workers. There are little job prospects in sight for these workers as automation has completely taken over numerous industries. The Future is Now As fictitious as this sounds, it is not a scene out of a science-fiction novel, but instead a scenario that could occur in the very near future.…