Mike Tyson and Ric Flair's $50m cannabis racketeering case survives dismissal bid
A federal judge in Illinois refused to throw out the civil racketeering lawsuit Mike Tyson and Ric Flair filed over their cannabis brands, letting the case proceed against five defendants tied to Carma and Tyson 2.0. The plaintiffs say more than $1 million was diverted from the company and want tens of millions of dollars in damages.
🇺🇸 U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Chicago, Illinois · United States
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A federal judge in Illinois refused to dismiss the racketeering lawsuit that
Mike Tyson and Ric Flair, among other plaintiffs, filed in December 2025 over
their cannabis businesses.[1][2][3]Tyson and Flair accuse five people linked to
Carma and the Tyson 2.0 cannabis brand of taking the boxer and the wrestler for
large sums.[1][2]The case is Tyson et al. v. Bronstein et al., No.
1:25-cv-15462, a civil racketeering suit filed in the U.S. District Court for
the Northern District of Illinois on 19 December 2025.[4]
The plaintiffs say two of the defendants, Carma executives, ran the company as a
personal piggy bank and diverted more than $1 million to private jet travel, a
yacht and home renovations.[1][2][3]Other defendants were accused of taking
kickbacks on deals they negotiated without the two men’s knowledge.[1][2][3]Five
defendants filed a joint motion asking the court to throw the case out for
various reasons, having strongly denied wrongdoing.[1][2][3]The judge rejected
their arguments, so the case will continue.[1][2][3]
A representative of Tyson 2.0 called the ruling a significant development in the
plaintiffs’ pursuit of justice.[1][2][3]Tyson and Flair are seeking tens of
millions of dollars, both for money they say was taken and for deals they missed
out on, and the ruling was a step in the case rather than a final win.[1][2][3]
The fellow plaintiffs alongside Tyson and Flair are Carma HoldCo Inc. and hemp company LGNDS.[3]The five defendants are former Carma president Chad Bronstein, former CEO Adam Wilks, former legal executive Nicole Cosby, shareholder James Case and Christopher Volo.[3]The complaint alleges an arrangement with vape manufacturer DomPen that allowed unauthorized use of Carma’s intellectual property in exchange for concealed payments.[3]
Photos and video
Mike Tyson and Ric Flair together at a press event, used as the lead picture on the litigation story. Photo: GettyPhoto details
No date was published for the ruling; 6 November 2026 is the TMZ publication date and is used as the incident date.
The court and case number come from the federal docket published by the CourtListener RECAP archive, not from the TMZ account, which names only a federal judge in Illinois.
The full text of the ruling and the judge's reasoning were not available; only the outcome reported by TMZ was read.
The $50 million damages claim reported in TMZ's headline is stated in the text only as tens of millions of dollars sought, and it is a claim, not an award, so it is not recorded as a figure.
The lead photograph is a Getty picture of the two men that predates the ruling and does not show the court event.
The Complex article gives no separate date for the ruling; 7 November 2026 is its publication date.
Complex attributes its account to TMZ Sports rather than an independent reading of the ruling or docket.
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