Polymarket removes bets on Cornell 7 gang-rape case as activists target LeBron James, celebrity endorsers
Polymarket caved to backlash and removed a bet that allowed gamblers to wager on whether seven Cornell University fraternity members accused in a gang-rape lawsuit will face felony sex-crime charges.The company took down the wager after activists demanded that LeBron James and other celebrity endorsers cut ties with the prediction-market platformMore than $450,000 had been traded on the wager as of Monday afternoon as authorities revisited allegations that a female student was drugged and sexually assaulted at a fraternity house in 2024.Before the bet was removed, traders were pricing the probability of felony charges against at least one of the men at roughly 28%, with $451,633 in trading volume.News of the wager, which was available on Polymarket’s international platform but not its US app, was first reported by Front Office Sports.Polymarket took the page for the bet offline after The Post contacted the company seeking comment.The betting frenzy sparked outrage among sexual assault advocates, who pressured the company’s high-profile celebrity pitchmen to denounce the market publicly.“This is dehumanizing, disgusting, and dangerous,” attorney Cheyenne Hunt wrote in an Instagram post.“To the celebrity ambassadors for Polymarket, do you really want to be associated with this?” she added.A petition circulating online under the banner “No Gambling on Gang Rape!” singled out James, Eli Manning, Derek Jeter, Emily Ratajkowski, Alexandra Daddario and other celebrities who have promoted the platform.The Post has sought comment from those celebrities.The campaign accused the stars of lending their reputations to a company that permits speculation on sexual assault cases and urged them to sever their relationships with Polymarket.“As women, sexual assault survivors, advocates, and allies, we are horrified that this type of betting is not only being allowed,” the petition states.The organizers also warned that allowing people to profit from the outcome of...