American film producer and record executive David Geffen countersues crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun

The billionaire American media mogul filed a counterclaim against Sun on April 16, calling the Tron founder's suit a “sham” and adding claims of “unethical and/or illegal business activities.”

American film producer, record executive and art collector David Geffen has hit back at crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun in a countersuit disputing ownership claims over a multi-million-dollar sculpture.

The billionaire filed a counterclaim against Sun on April 16, calling the Tron (TRX) founder’s suit a “sham” and adding claims of “unethical and/or illegal business activities.”

Sun sued Geffen in February, claiming that the statue was stolen from him by a former employee who then sold the artwork to Geffen. The employee, Xiong Zihan Sydney, allegedly sold the sculpture to Geffen in a deal that also included around $65 million in artwork and cash.

The suit arises from the sale of Alberto Giacometti’s Le Nez, which Sun purchased at a Sotheby’s auction in 2021 with the assistance of his former art adviser. The pair reportedly paid $78 million for the sculpture at the time.

In the 100-page countersuit, Geffen claims that Sun and Xiong “contrived this fraudulent lawsuit” after they couldn’t profitably sell two paintings that Geffen had exchanged for the sculpture, along with $10.5 million in cash.

“Sun’s claims concerning Le Nez, a sculpture by the artist Alberto Giacometti, are utterly without merit and constitute a bad-faith, tortious attempt to interfere with Geffen’s ownership of Le Nez,” the counterclaim read.

Geffen also claims that Sun was eager to sell the sculpture because crypto markets were crashing throughout 2022 and 2023 and his crypto platforms Poloniex and HTX were repeatedly hacked for "hundreds of millions of dollars" in 2023.

The counterclaim counters several key claims in Sun’s lawsuit, including whether Xiong confessed to stealing the sculpture, discrepancies in Sun’s claims about how much money Xiong allegedly stole and Geffen’s claim that Sun still has the money and the paintings, which are being held by art dealers.

The suit alleges that Sun and Xiong fabricated evidence and lied in legal documents in an attempt to deceive the court and steal the sculpture from Geffen.

It adds that Sun’s claims about being a victim of theft are ironic, given that he has a history of allegedly encouraging and pressuring subordinates to engage in "unethical and/or illegal business activities."

The suit claims that Sun’s actions caused his subordinates to file lawsuits against him for labor law violations and fraudulent inducement.

Geffen’s suit severs all claims against him and reasserts his own claims for declaratory relief. It requests that the court intervene to prevent further "interference with Geffen’s property rights."

In November, Sun bought Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian — a banana taped to the wall — at Sotheby’s New York for $6.2 million, and then ate the banana at a press conference in a publicity stunt.