Businessman and media personality Kevin O’Leary won $2.8 million in his defamation lawsuit against a crypto influencer known as Bitboy Crypto who published falsehoods claiming O’Leary is a murder and “paid millions” for a cover up.
Judge Beth Bloom in a ruling Friday entered a default judgment against the influencer, whose real name is Ben Armstrong, because he failed to provide a substantive response to the lawsuit from O’Leary, best known for his appearances on the TV show “Shark Tank.”
Bloom, writing for the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami, said Armstrong spent a week in March 2025 accusing O’Leary of murder on the social media platform X. He posted O’Leary’s private cell phone number and encouraged followers to “call a real life murderer,” the judge wrote.
“In the weeks and months that followed, Armstrong’s posts and the disclosure of O’Leary’s phone number significantly affected him, both in his professional and personal life,” Bloom said.
O’Leary was inundated with queries from business partners about the false claims and the incident forced him to increase his security, the judge said.
Armstrong’s false claims were in connection to a 2019 boating accident involving O’Leary and his wife that resulted in the death of two other people. His wife Linda O’Leary was charged with careless operation of a vehicle but was exonerated after a trial. Kevin O’Leary was never charged.
“His family believed they had put the traumatic boating accident behind them, but the posts have reopened old wounds,” Bloom said.
Bloom awarded about $78,000 in reputational damages, $750,000 in mental anguish damages, and $2 million in punitive damages.
She rejected Armstrong’s arguments that he failed to reply to the lawsuit in time because he suffered from mental health issues.
Neiman Mays Floch & Almeida PLLC represents O’Leary.
The case is O’Leary v. Armstrong, S.D. Fla., No. 1:25-cv-21417, 2/13/26.
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