Having celebrities hawk goods is nothing new, but in the era of AI it has become pretty easy to impersonate someone’s voice and use it to sell a good or service.

Not saying that’s what happened here, but the allegations are so odd that I wonder.

In Martin v. Bottom Line Concepts, 2024 WL 1119982 (S.D. N.Y. March 14, 2024) a company is stuck in a TCPA suit after allegedly sending ringless voicemails without consent.

The voicemails used Snoop Dog to pitch a federal tax break known as the Employee Retention Credit.

Per the complaint, the call stated the ERC had the “Snoop Dogg stamp of approval” and told Plaintiff to go to “ERCEnroll.com” to get “them funds in your hands quicker than you can roll up your favorite … well, you know what I mean.”

BLC moved to dismiss the case arguing that it lacked allegations sufficient to keep it in the case but the Court disagreed.

Finding BLC’s liability “plausible” the court concluded sufficient facts were alleged to hold it potentially liable and also held BLC’s challenge to standing and enhanced damages lacked merit.

In the end BLC is stuck in the suit. Unclear whether the Dogg himself may face potential liability in this one–he is not sued yet, but direct participation in the calling campaign might be enough to bring him in. We’ll keep an eye on it.