PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper wants everyone to know he didn’t sign up for this.
The Phillies star broke his silence Monday on a Cameo video that turned into a national story about sports betting, addiction, and how far a sportsbook will go to keep a whale happy. In a post on his Instagram Story, hours before he was due to step into the batter’s box for the Home Run Derby, Harper said he never agreed to let FanDuel use a personal video he recorded — and he’s angry it happened at all.
“I did not know FanDuel would do this,” Harper wrote. “I did not consent to it, and FanDuel had no right to do it.”
That’s a strong statement from a guy who usually saves his fire for hanging curveballs.
How a Holiday Message Became a Gambling Flashpoint
The video dates back to November 2024. Harper says he received a Cameo order from someone identifying themselves only as “Bryttanni,” requesting a “holiday video for Terry.” Cameo, for the uninitiated, is the app where fans pay celebrities to record short, personalized clips — birthday shoutouts, congratulations, the occasional roast.
Harper says he read the script he was given “in good faith,” never suspecting it would end up branded with a sportsbook’s logo and delivered to a VIP client as a betting perk. In the 21-second clip, he wishes a man named Terry a happy Thanksgiving on behalf of “your host Bryttanni from FanDuel.” Nothing about odds, nothing about parlays. Just a friendly message — with FanDuel’s logo stamped on the bottom.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported last week that the “Terry” in the video was Terry Thompson, a FanDuel customer who had wagered roughly $18.5 million with the sportsbook. Thompson has since sued.
“I Did Not Know Anything About Terry”
Harper says he had zero insight into who Thompson was or what he was going through. He shared a screenshot of the original Cameo request Monday to back that up.
“The same is true had I known anything about Terry or his situation,” Harper wrote, adding he wasn’t aware of any partnership between Cameo and FanDuel.
That’s where things get messier. Front Office Sports reported Friday that Cameo and FanDuel do, in fact, have an arrangement allowing videos to be purchased for VIP bettors — though it’s never been publicly announced. FOS also reported Harper has no formal business relationship with FanDuel, and that the video was bought as a personal clip rather than a commercial one, which would have come with usage rights and, presumably, a bigger price tag.
Harper’s camp didn’t respond when asked about an obvious tension in his story: he referenced FanDuel by name in the video, even if he says he had no idea what would happen to it afterward.
A Bettor’s $18.5 Million Story
The man on the receiving end of the video isn’t just a footnote. Thompson, according to a lawsuit filed in March in Philadelphia’s Common Pleas Court, says he developed what the complaint calls a “gambling addiction disorder.” He placed his first FanDuel bet in late 2020. By the time the Cameo video landed in his inbox, he’d bet $18.5 million with the company.
Thompson says he lost $1.52 million on FanDuel and another $336,000 on DraftKings, both named as defendants alongside BetFair. The suit, filed by the Public Health Advocacy Institute, accuses the sportsbooks of using customer data to push “microbets” — quick-hit wagers on things like the outcome of the next pitch — to keep high-volume bettors locked in.
Losing that kind of money doesn’t stay contained. Reports indicate Thompson took out second and third mortgages on his home before eventually losing it, and sold a stake in a company he’d owned for two decades to cover what he owed.
FanDuel Pushes Back — Sort Of
FanDuel hasn’t disputed the video happened. Asked for comment, the company said it’s “committed to fostering a culture of responsible gaming and protecting our customers,” and pointed to employee training designed to flag problem gambling.
Notice what’s missing from that statement: any explanation of why a struggling bettor was rewarded with a celebrity video in the first place. FanDuel has also declined to comment on the reported Cameo partnership itself.
What’s Next
A representative for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board told ESPN on Friday the agency is looking into the matter. That’s not nothing — Pennsylvania regulators don’t open inquiries for fun, and how this shakes out could shape how sportsbooks are allowed to court their biggest spenders going forward.
Harper, for his part, is moving on to swinging for the fences at the Derby. But the questions he raised about how far FanDuel will go for its VIP program aren’t going away with him.
