It’s tough to open up a business. It’s definitely tough in the transient, tourist heavy city of Las Vegas.
NFL legend Emmitt Smith, the former running back for the Dallas Cowboys, is finding out the hard way.
Smith is being sued by investors after his restaurant venture in Sin City fell through shortly after opening, to the tune of $67 million.
He was set to open a restaurant called Emmitt’s in the city’s Fashion Show Mall in 2022. Almost two years later, there is no restaurant and investors are out eight figures.
Celebrity chef Rainer Schwarz filed the lawsuit and claimed that several of his former partners did not contribute their promised investment. The chef claims that the former partners conspired to shut him out of the deal and keep the profits for themselves.
The lawsuit claims that four different entities, including the chef, agreed in 2021 to operate and develop the restaurant known as Emmitt’s.
Schwartz also said that he and several other partners were locked out of the restaurant and denied entry into the facility.
He also claimed that some of his former partners started a new corporation to take over the restaurant. As a former multiple-time Super Bowl champion, Smith is the most notable name involved and serves as the front man for the proposed restaurant.
So far, according to documents, the court would only agree that $1.1 million is yet to be reimbursed to the original investors.
Smith, personally, was not named in the lawsuit, but his company was.
Las Vegas is known for its plethora of celebrity chef-run restaurants.
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