A class action lawsuit, filed on New Year's Eve, alleges rapper Drake not only promoted illegal gambling on the website Stake.us but diverted funds to artificially pump up his song stats on music platforms.
Key Takeaways
- Defendants claim Drake and influencer Adin Ross encouraged users to illegally gamble on the Stake.us website.
- The suit also alleges that Stake helped Drake disguise funds using its “Tipping” feature and internal transfers to pay bot farms to juice his play counts on music sites such as Spotify.
- The lawsuit maintains the allegations constitute a pattern of racketeering activity under the under the RICO Act.
Gaming attorney Daniel Wallach was first to break the news of the New Year's Eve filing.
The last gambling lawsuit of 2025 is a doozy — a federal RICO class action vs. Stake and rapper Drake for promoting an illegal online gambling site under the guise of a fake sweepstakes. Drake is accused of using the platform to artificially inflate play counts of his music. pic.twitter.com/kU8b9JmhPJ
— Daniel Wallach (@WALLACHLEGAL) January 1, 2026
The class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria Division) on Dec. 31, 2025. The class is represented by plaintiffs LaShawnna Ridley and Tiffany Hines, users of Stake.us.
The defendants in the case include Sweepsteaks Ltd (Stake.us) the rapper Drake, online influencer Adin Ross, and George Nguyen.
The plaintiffs argue that the sweepstakes casino Stake.us has been operating an illegal gambling site disguised as a “social casino” since 2022. By promoting the site, they claim that Drake and others were getting users to unknowingly engage in illegal gambling.
Enjoying Covers content? Add us as a preferred source on your Google accountThe lawsuit claims, “by masking its real money gambling platform as a free and safe 'social casino,' Stake and Defendants create a predatorial gambling environment, deliberately misleading consumers to the risk of gambling addiction and jeopardizing the financial well-being of consumers and their families.”
Following the money
There are several lawsuits challenging the legality sweepstakes casinos – and a few citing the promoters of such sites. For instance, television show host Ryan Seacrest was sued for promoting the sweeps site Chumba Casino. Meanwhile, Stake, Drake and Ross are named defendants in a Missouri class action lawsuit filed in October.
In this suit, as in the Missouri suit, the plaintiffs point out that Drake is often playing with house money on Stake.us – something that is not made clear to users. This case, however, goes even further to demonstrate the financial links between Stake.us and Drake.
This suit claims that the “Tipping” and internal transfer features at Stake.us funded bot farms used to artificially boost Drake’s play counts on music platforms. It claims the defendants shared a “common purpose to facilitate illegal online gambling, and to conceal, route, and distribute proceeds of the scheme through Stake.us’s pseudo-anonymous payment rails, using proceeds and other funds to enrich themselves and artificially inflate streaming counts for Drake’s catalog.”
The suit also claims to demonstrate how funds on the site can be easily diverted and potentially disguised. The lawsuit details money transfers between the defendants – in one case using a “tip” of $100,000. In another instance, Drake “gifted” $220,000 to Ross through the site.
The plaintiffs are seeking class certification, damages not less than $5 million, injunctive and declaratory relief, and disgorgement of ill-gotten gains from the defendants. And as a racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations (RICO) violation, it would be eligible for triple damages, costs, and reasonable attorney’s fees.
