Polymarket caved to backlash and eliminated a guess that allowed gamblers to wager on whether seven Cornell University fraternity members accused in a gang-rape lawsuit will face felony sex-crime costs.
The company took down the wager after activists demanded that LeBron James and other movie star endorsers cut ties with the prediction-market platform
More than $450,000 had been traded on the wager as of Monday afternoon as authorities revisited allegations that a feminine scholar was drugged and sexually assaulted at a fraternity home in 2024.
Before the guess was eliminated, merchants were pricing the probability of felony costs against at least one of the males at roughly 28%, with $451,633 in trading quantity.
A view of Polymarket taking bets regarding the Cornell University gang-rape costs.
News of the wager, which was accessible on Polymarket’s worldwide platform but not its US app, was first reported by Front Office Sports.
Polymarket took the web page for the guess offline after The Post contacted the company looking for remark.
The betting frenzy sparked outrage among sexual assault advocates, who pressured the company’s high-profile movie star 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.
LeBron James, who reportedly earns $15 million a 12 months selling Polymarket, is among the celebrities going through strain to cut ties with the platform over a betting market tied to a Cornell University gang-rape lawsuit. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Post has sought remark from those celebrities.
The marketing campaign accused the stars of lending their reputations to a company that permits hypothesis on sexual assault circumstances 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 permitting people to revenue from the consequence of legal proceedings could create financial incentives for people with affect over a case to intrude with the course of.
Polymarket has sparked backlash for permitting customers of its worldwide platform to wager on whether any of seven Cornell University fraternity members accused in a gang-rape lawsuit will face felony sex-crime costs. Christopher Sadowski for NY Post
There is no recognized evidence that such interference has occurred in the Cornell investigation.
The controversy threatens to put Polymarket’s profitable movie star advertising and marketing strategy under scrutiny.
James is receiving $15 million yearly to promote the company, Front Office Sports reported last month.
“Endorsing an exchange is different from endorsing a sneaker, because the product is the set of questions the company chooses to ask, so endorsers should know what categories are off limits and have an exit when the platform crosses a line,” Alex Goldenberg, a senior fellow at Rutgers University’s Miller Center for Community Protection and Resilience, instructed The Post.
Other distinguished endorsers embody former NFL stars Manning, Reggie Bush and Richard Sherman, along with basketball legend Sue Bird.
Representatives for the athletes did not immediately reply to requests for remark.
The Chi Phi Fraternity home is seen on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, NY, on Sept. 30, 2026. Cornell has been the middle of a growing scandal regarding sexual assault that was underreported at the fraternity home in 2024. Lone Pine Press for NY Post
The advocacy group I Have The Right To, which focuses on sexual assault, also condemned the wager and accused celebrities of serving to legitimize the platform.
“What kind of culture looks at sexual violence and sees an opportunity for profit?” the nonprofit requested in an Instagram post.
Polymarket defended its resolution to offer the contract, arguing that prediction markets present priceless info about main occasions.
A company spokesperson instructed Front Office Sports that such markets can offer “objective, data-driven insight into how a matter like this is moving through the legal system.”
The spokesperson added that sexual assault on faculty campuses deserves higher transparency and public consideration.
“Polymarket says these markets simply reflect what participants believe, but the platform has built a financial incentive structure that rewards anyone with inside knowledge of a case or a hand in steering it, from investigators to grand jurors to witnesses,” Goldenberg instructed The Post.
Goldenberg is an adviser to BETINT, a company that screens prediction markets for suspected insider trading and manipulation. He said he has no financial ties to Polymarket or rival Kalshi.
Attorney Cheyenne Hunt blasted Polymarket on Instagram for permitting bets tied to the Cornell gang-rape allegations and urged movie star endorsers to disavow the platform.
The uproar facilities on a civil lawsuit filed Sept. 16 in Manhattan Supreme Court by a girl recognized as Jane Doe, who alleges that seven members of Cornell’s Chi Phi fraternity sexually assaulted her during the evening of Oct. 19, 2024, and into the following morning.
According to the 101-page grievance, the then-20-year-old scholar was intoxicated when she arrived at the frat home, where members allegedly equipped her with ketamine, marijuana and further alcohol before subjecting her to repeated sexual assaults.
The lawsuit names Cornell, several fraternity and sorority organizations and the seven males, accusing the college and other defendants of failing to defend the scholar.
The allegations have not been established in court.
The Tompkins County district attorney initially declined to convey legal costs in 2024 but has since reopened the investigation.
Cornell has said its disciplinary proceedings resulted in sanctions that included suspensions and expulsions.
