The Truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

Until he decamped to the Brooklyn Nets in 2013, Paul Pierce was the heart and soul of the Boston Celtics. The Celtics last won the NBA championship in 2008, and Pierce was the finals MVP. That was a really fun team to watch - Pierce, Ray Allen (UConn's own!), Kevin Garnett - and Pierce was a fan favorite, including in my house. (My late husband was a big Celtics fan.)

Pierce had a wonderful nickname - The Truth - a name given to him by Shaquille O'Neal. The nickname was meant to convey that, on the court, Paul Pierce was the real deal. But if you're called The Truth, well, you might want to make sure you're the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. 

Alas:

Paul Pierce has agreed to pay $1.4 million to settle US Securities and Exchange Commission allegations that he touted a crypto token without disclosing that he was paid for the promotions.

Pierce, who was nicknamed “The Truth” during his career, also made false and misleading statements about the token, according to the SEC. Pierce didn’t admit or deny the agency’s findings, the agency said. A lawyer for Pierce did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

...According to the SEC, Pierce failed to disclose that he was paid more than $244,000 to promote on Twitter the EMAX token, which is offered by EthereumMax. Source: Boston Globe)

Pierce wasn't the first celeb fined for promoting EMAX. Last October, Kim Kardashian agreed to a $1.3M fine to settle her EMAX kiss. Way back in 2018, boxer Floyd Mayweather was fined for hyping another bitcoin.

When I think about celebrity endorsements, or celebrities appearing in ads, I've always assumed they were paid. How much does it really matter if they don't actually use the product they're promoting? Does Jon Hamm use Hellman's mayo? Does Rob Gronkowski have a USAA policy? Does Ben Affleck run on Dunkin? (Yeah, I think in that case he actually does.)

But I guess you have to be a bit more careful if what you're banging the drum for is a security regulated by the SEC. 

“This case is yet another reminder to celebrities: The law requires you to disclose to the public from whom and how much you are getting paid to promote investment in securities, and you can’t lie to investors when you tout a security,” SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement.

And Pierce apparently didn't just tout EMAX, didn't just do the crypto version of a miniaturized Jon Hamm's standing in a fridge pushing the idea that mayo improves a ham sandwich. (Mayo actually does NOT improve a ham sandwich; mustard does. But this is a matter of opinion, and stating an opinion to the contrary is not an out and out lie.)

In addition to not disclosing that he was paid, Pierce ran afoul of the SEC by claiming that he had made more money with the EMAX token in May 2021 than he had in a year at ESPN. The SEC alleged in its complaint that the statement was “materially misleading.”

Pierce also tweeted his way into an untruth:

The SEC said one of the misleading actions Pierce took while being paid to promote EMAX tokens is tweeting a screenshot of "an account showing large holdings and profits without disclosing that his own personal holdings were in fact much lower than those in the screenshot." (Source: UPI)

Tweet, tweet.

It's exceedingly difficult for me to imagine anyone making a consumer choice, let alone an investment decision, based on something an athlete, actor, or other celebrity has to say about the product. Even if I'm actually familiar with the athlete, actor, or other celebrity. Honestly, does any eat at Taco Bell because Pete Davidson tells them to, let alone did anyone buy Alberto VO5 hairspray because Rula Lenska did their ads?

I'm a big subscriber to 'caveat emptor,' whether it's a generally well understood product  - like mayonnaise or hairspray - being touted, or a complex, little understood item like crypto. 

Companies using ads to mislead or outright lie about their products? Awful! Terrible! Fraud! A celebrity endorsement? Yawn...

But I guess you don't mess with the SEC, as Paul Pierce, The Truth, has found out.

Matt Damon, Larry David, Tom Brady, and Gisele Bundchen - all did ads promoting crypto. In this case, the notorious FTX scheme. Even though a million dollar fine will mean nothing to any of them, I still wouldn't want to be in their Air Jordans when the SEC comes around.