Matt Johnson
A week after The Philadelphia Inquirer first released a story about a personalized video of Bryce Harper being used to incentivize a customer to keep using the sportsbook, the Philadelphia Phillies first baseman has responded to the story.
Posting to his Instagram story on Monday, Harper denied giving FanDuel consent to use his video for a VIP promotion to encourage a customer to keep placing bets.
“I did not know FanDuel would do this. I did not consent to it, and FanDuel had no right to do it.”
Philadelphia Phillies first basemean Bryce Harper on FanDuel using his Cameo video
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The Philadelphia Inquirer published an in-depth story reporting on the gambling addiction and betting habits of customer Terry Thompson, who lost more than $1.5 million on the sportsbook. When FanDuel was enticing Thompson to keep placing bets, it sent him a personalized video from Harper.
In the video, with part of it released in the story, Harper extended wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving to Thompson. However, the perennial All-Star hitter said he was unaware of what the video was being used for.
Harper stated that in November 2024, someone identifying themsselves as “Bryttanni” submitted an order via Cameo for a personalized holiday video to be sent to someone named Terry. Not only did he have no knowledge of THompson’s gambling acction, but he didn’t know who he was outside of the information provided in the request and he was unaware it was submitted by FanDuel.
“Had I known FanDuel’s true intent, I would not have made the video. The same is true had I known anything about Terry or his situation, or about any alleged ‘partnership’ between Cameo and FanDuel.”
Bryce Harper on FanDuel using his video as a VIP perk for Terry Thompson
In a lawsuit against FanDuel and VIP host Bryttanni Morgan and numerous other sportsbooks, Thompson alleged that Morgan contacted him with promotional offers and gifts to entice him to keep placing more wagers through the sportsbook, even as he kept losing more and more money.
Harper made it clear that FanDuel was never given the right to use the Cameo video and the company put its own logo on it after he sent it. In a statement to ESPN, the company stood by its original statement that Morgan and its other employees “are trained to recognize and flag signs of problem gambling and offer resources and tools.”
