Drake and streamer Adin Ross accused of using online casino funds to artificially inflate streams in class action case | music

Drake and American live streamer Adin Ross have been accused in a US civil case of using online casino funds to pay for automated live streams in an attempt to artificially inflate the singer’s revenues and popularity on music streaming platforms. No one has been criminally charged in connection with the allegations in the lawsuit.

Two women in the US state of Virginia have filed a class action lawsuit seeking $5 million from e-casino Stake.com, celebrity and another Australian online personality for alleged violations of consumer protection laws and organizations affected and affected by racketeering.

Stake.com, a global online casino licensed from Curacao, is officially banned in dozens of countries including the US, Australia and the UK.

Its American arm, Stake.us, does not allow users to gamble directly with real money. Bettors play with e-tokens – some are provided for free while others can be purchased and withdrawn as cryptocurrency.

The class action lawsuit, filed Wednesday, alleges that Stake.us’ anonymous design enabled Drake to fund programmatic stream purchases, artificially inflating his revenue and popularity on music streaming platforms, including Spotify.

Court documents allege that Drake and Ross concealed the funding from public view by funneling gambling winnings via an anonymous Stake tips scheme to an Australian man, named in court documents as George Nguyen, who allegedly ran the online accounts grandwizardchatn**** and Grandavious.

Nguyen, who promoted Drake and the gambling platform, allegedly traded stake proceeds, cash and cryptocurrencies to pay bot sellers for synthetic music streams on behalf of Drake and Ross.

The lawsuit alleges that Drake funneled millions of dollars as part of the scheme, including in $100,000 in tips and $10,000 to Ross. The lawsuit also alleges that public posts, chat logs and leaked communications prove Nguyen’s role.

The class action lawsuit claims the scheme dates back to 2022 and “remains a continuing and imminent threat of racketeering activity.” Drake, Ross, Nguyen and Stake have been contacted for comment.

The lawsuit also alleges that Stake, along with Drake and Ross, intentionally misled consumers into believing the platform was legal and harmless.

The lead plaintiffs, Tiffany Hines and LaShauna Ridley, claimed they suffered significant damages after Drake’s promotions encouraged them to gamble on Stake. The class action lawsuit alleged that the platform financially harmed users by encouraging them to gamble illegally and leaving them vulnerable to addiction.

Last October, a Missouri man filed a similar suit against Steck, Drake and Ross, a case that Ross called “nonsense” at the time.

Stake.us is facing lawsuits in other US states claiming it is operating illegally. In response to a case brought by the Los Angeles City Attorney in August, Stake’s Australian parent company, Easygo, told The Australian: “We reject the allegations made in the media in relation to this potential allegation and will vigorously defend this and all such allegations.”

Since 2022, Drake has promoted Stake on Instagram and on Kick, the live streaming platform owned by Easygo, including a post in June revealing that he bet $124.5 million and lost $8.2 million in one month.

He commented on the story post, saying, “I have to share the other side of gambling…the losses are very low now.”

“Hopefully I can post a big win to all of you soon.”

The rapper in December promoted an hours-long live stream on Kick with the caption: “Can we end the toughest gambling year on a good note?? I want to achieve MAXWIN and share 10% of it with you. Head over to Stake to find out how you can enter to win this bet.”

The lawsuit claims that Stake paid Drake $100 million annually and provided free gambling credits to the rapper and Ross.

Ross, a 25-year-old internet personality and professional streamer, moved to a rival online casino, Rainbet, and resigned from Stake in 2025, telling viewers he would continue streaming on Kick because of his friendship with its 30-year-old founder, Ed Craven.

Craven, who was hailed by Forbes as Australia’s youngest billionaire with an estimated fortune of $2.8 billion (AU$4.2 billion), co-founded Kick in Melbourne in 2022 with Bijan Tehrani following their success with Stake. The platform attracted regulatory attention in August after hosting a live broadcast during which a man died in France.