David Beckham is suing Mark Wahlberg for alleged losses after a brand deal went south with F45 Training, which the Hollywood A-lister has a 36 percent interest in and is the chief branding officer.
The soccer star’s firm DB Ventures claims Beckham was ‘duped’ by Wahlberg, according to The Sun.
Beckham claims he lost $10 million out of pocket when stocks that the legendary footballer was promised weren’t given to him until after share prices plummeted.
He is also suing Wahlberg’s investment firm – Mark Wahlberg Investment Group – along with F45 founders Adam Gilchrist and Rob Deutsch, who launched the company in 2012 in Australia.
The 48-year-old English soccer star agreed to be a global ambassador for F45 – a chain of fitness centers with locations in 60 countries including the United States that “offers innovative, high-intensity functional group workouts that are fast, fun and results-driven” – when he moved to Los Angeles.
Beckham had appeared in several F45 social media posts promoting the brand, however, those posts have since been deleted.
Wahlberg and his co-defendants are asking a judge to dismiss the case and say that the claims of “fraudulent conduct” are baseless.
In their motion to dismiss, they claimed that Beckham was putting the onus on everyone but himself.
“The 209-page, 610-paragraph SAC [complaint] tries to make up with length what it lacks in merit,” part of the motion says, according to The Sun.
Beckham and Wahlberg reportedly became friends after the former Manchester United and Los Angeles Galaxy star moved into the same LA neighborhood in 2007.
Wahlberg bought a minority stake in F45 through his investment firm along with FOD Capital in 2019.
Beckham had first attempted to sue alongside LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, who had his own issue with F45, in 2022 in court in California, but a judge ruled that they had to file separate suits.
F45 had announced the Beckham partnership in 2021 and Beckham had said in a statement at the time that Wahlberg had been the one to get him into it.
“I’ve been a fan of the F45 franchise and training model since being introduced by my friend, Mark Wahlberg,” Beckham said.
