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Drake, DJ Akademiks, streamer Adin Ross, and gaming website Stake.us have been sued again for allegedly promoting an illegal gambling scheme.
According to a report Complex published on Thursday, April 23, lawyers for Jason Nufio of Roselle, New Jersey, filed a lawsuit earlier this week, accusing the Canadian rapper and his streamer friends of using their celebrity status to push the gambling site without disclosing their ties to the platform. Nufio claimed he lost money using Stake and alleged that the online casino is illegal following new legislation that passed in New Jersey on August 15, 2025, which outlawed joining or participating in a sweepstakes casino while in the state.
"They have inflicted harm on consumers across the State who have lost real money chasing gambling wins on the Stake platform," Nufio's attorneys wrote. They also alleged Stake's ads "concealed the fact that Drake and Ross faced no genuine financial risk, while ordinary consumers who followed their lead and placed similar wages stood to lose real money."
Nufio claims Stake uses gold coins as its virtual currency. His attorneys argued that the coins are "a fig leaf to superficially avoid the appearance of illegal gambling and afford Stake a veneer of deniability." They also allege Drake, Akademiks, and Adin Ross purposely hid the fact that they are not at risk of being impacted financially due to their partnerships. In fact, Nufio specifically calls out Akademiks, born Livingston Allen, for being paid through Stake's tipping function after he allegedly assisted "Drake’s inflation of his streaming numbers through bot networks by publishing and promoting information that he knew to be false."
Nufio is seeking unspecified damages and demanding a refund of the money he spent on the website. His lawsuit appears to be similar to other legal complaints filed against Drake, Ross, and Stake other states, including Missouri, New Mexico, and Virginia. A rep for Stake previously denied the allegations from the other lawsuits, while Ross called the allegations "f**king bulls**t." Drake also seemingly dismissed the first lawsuit last year by making another post dedicated to Stake, in which he wrote, "Rage baiting since 2023 @stake."
As of this report, they have not commented on the new lawsuit.