The eccentric celebrity “jewelry guy” known as Shuki, who specializes in extremely expensive custom pieces for the rich and famous, has won his lawsuit against former NFL footballer Antonio Brown after Brown failed to respond to the suit. Brown has now been ordered to pay over $1 million to Shuki over multiple pieces the jeweler says Brown borrowed and never returned or paid for, according to a TMZ report.
Shuki filed suit against Brown in April of last year, claiming that in 2022 he had lent Brown several pieces, including a pair of signature diamond fingers that cost $500,000 each, on the understanding that Brown would either return or decide to buy them after a reasonable period. That period lapsed, Shuki found himself unable to reach Brown, and the lawsuit was filed. Altogether, Shuki tabulated the value of the lent pieces to $1,095,000, and he sued to get that amount from Brown, a suit that Brown failed to respond to in any way.
Prince Williams/Wireimage/Getty Images
That leads to the present default judgment, and Brown on the hook for the $1.095 million worth of jewelry — although presumably Shuki would be satisfied to just have the items back at long last.
That seems to still be a possibility, since despite Brown’s failure to respond to Shuki’s lawsuit or any of his phone calls, he has been photographed around Los Angeles wearing at least one of the Shuki diamond fingers. But Brown has yet to respond publicly to news of the judgment. For Shuki’s part, he has shared a screenshot of the TMZ headline on his official Instagram account.
The ruling comes as Brown has plenty of other legal and financial problems on his plate. He’s faced numerous other lawsuits and was recently cut out of the National Arena League’s Albany Empire ownership group due to alleged failure to make required payments for payroll and other team expenses.