Former teen soap star from the popular television series “The O.C.,” Ben McKenzie, has called out his fellow celebrities for shilling specific cryptocurrency projects. McKenzie calls the trend a “moral disaster” and he’s named a bunch of celebrities that have shilled a few crypto projects to their loyal fans.
‘The O.C.’ Star Ben McKenzie Writes a Scathing Review About His Fellow Celebrities and Their Crypto Participation
On October 7, the American actor, writer, and director Ben McKenzie has a problem with his fellow celebrities pushing certain crypto projects. So much so he wrote an opinion editorial denouncing the behavior and published it via the publication The Slate.
Ben McKenzie is also a celebrity himself as his first high-profile role was in 2003, when he played “Ryan Atwood” in the television series “The O.C.” McKenzie also starred in the show “Southland” and the television series “Gotham.”
The oped written by McKenzie is called “Celebrity Crypto Shilling Is a Moral Disaster,” and the first person it strikes is the popular socialite Kim Kardashian. McKenzie discussed how Kardashian shilled the crypto token Ethereum Max using her Instagram account with her 228 million followers.
“The post was an immediate sensation, and a touch controversial,” McKenzie wrote. “Ethereum Max was only a month old, few had heard of it, and it wasn’t even obvious how the ‘token’ was supposed to work,” the actor added.
As of this writing, Ethereum Max is priced at $0.00000002257, according to coinmarketcap.com. That’s a lot of zeroes. If you bought Ethereum Max after Kardashian pushed it and didn’t sell fast enough, all you were left with was a practically worthless digital asset.
McKenzie: ‘Celebrities Might as Well Be Seating Their Audience at a Rigged Blackjack Table’
McKenzie further ripped into a number of other celebrities like the former heavyweight champ Floyd Mayweather Jr., former NBA star Paul Pierce, the actress Lindsay Lohan, and the Superbowl Champion Tom Brady as well. “The Hollywoodization of crypto is a moral disaster. And for celebrities’ fans, who likely have far less money to lose, it’s potentially a financial one, too,” McKenzie stressed. “The O.C.” star further added:
These rich and famous entertainers might as well be pushing payday loans or seating their audience at a rigged blackjack table. While the wild swings of crypto might be exciting for some, the rewards for many are illusory, especially once one gets beyond the top few cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum (which is a separate entity from Ethereum Max).
The Slate article, however, is co-written by the journalist Jacob Silverman, an author who is in the midst of writing a book about crypto fraud. Silverman has a lot to say about big tech and shares a lot of anti-capitalist views across a number of his editorials. The author Silverman has also written “Terms of Service: Social Media and the Price of Constant Connection.”
McKenzie too seems to believe that the crypto world is riddled with scams and so-called “rug pulls.” But for celebrities, to add hype to these types of speculative investments, is a bit over the top in his opinion.
“Celebrities are encouraging their fans to gamble on speculative, unproven investments that may soon see a major regulatory crackdown, if not an outright implosion of the market,” McKenzie emphasized. The actor’s scathing critique of his fellow celebrities concluded:
If celebrities care about what products they promote, they should think twice about putting their support behind these companies. Crypto and blockchain technology may yet have important roles to play, but the industry executives, venture capitalists, and, yes, the rich and famous people pushing these products haven’t earned your trust — or your money.