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Armstrong posted O’Leary’s private cell phone number and encouraged social media users to ‘call a real life murderer’
Published Feb 16, 2026 • 2 minute read
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Canadian businessman and media personality Kevin O’Leary (C) looks on before US President Donald Trump speaks about ‘Trump Accounts’ at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC, on January 28, 2026. Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP /Getty ImagesArticle content
Kevin O’Leary is likely feeling wonderful after winning a sweet chunk of change in his defamation lawsuit against a crypto influencer.
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The Shark Tank star won $2.8 million in his defamation case against Ben “BitBoy” Armstrong, who publicly accused O’Leary of murder on X, and claimed he “paid millions” to cover it up.
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Armstrong posted O’Leary’s private cell phone number and encouraged social media users to “call a real life murderer,” Judge Beth Bloom wrote in a ruling on Friday, Bloomberg Law reported.
Bloom entered a default judgment against the influencer because he failed to provide a substantive response to O’Leary’s lawsuit.
“In the weeks and months that followed, Armstrong’s posts and the disclosure of O’Leary’s phone number significantly affected him, both in his professional and personal life,” Bloom said in the ruling for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami.
O’Leary was forced to increase his security and was flooded with messages from business partners about the false claims, the judge noted.
Deadly boating crash
Armstrong’s false claims were in connection to a 2019 boating accident involving the Canadian businessman and his wife Linda that resulted in the death of two other people.
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While Kevin was never charged, Linda was charged with careless operation of a vehicle.
She was exonerated after a four-week trial in 2021, but faced subsequent lawsuits and countersuits that were only recently settled.
In 2019, the O’Learys were on Lake Joseph in Muskoka when their 1991 Cobalt ski boat slammed into a 2016 Super Air Nautique G 23 wakeboard boat with 12 passengers aboard.
Florida retiree Gary Poltash, 64, died immediately from blunt force trauma, while Uxbridge mother of three Suzana Brito, 48, succumbed to her injuries a few days later.
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BitBoy gets bit
O’Leary said Armstrong’s false claims stirred up painful memories.
“His family believed they had put the traumatic boating accident behind them, but the posts have reopened old wounds,” Bloom said.
Bloom awarded about $78,000 in reputational damages, $750,000 in mental anguish damages, and $2 million in punitive damages, according to Bloomberg.
She rejected Armstrong’s arguments that he failed to reply to the lawsuit in time because he suffered from mental health issues.
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