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A handful of ESPN hosts are in hot water after plugging Solitaire Cash, a mobile game from Papaya Gaming that’s now tangled up in lawsuits over shady practices. The main complaint? The app allegedly used bots pretending to be real players to rig game outcomes. Mina Kimes, Laura Rutledge, and Stephen A. Smith are just a few of the personalities catching heat for endorsing it, and the whole mess has people questioning what responsibility media figures really have when they’re hawking gaming apps.
How It All Started
Things blew up when Stephen A. Smith got caught on camera playing solitaire on his phone during Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Instead of paying attention to the game he was supposed to be analyzing, he was focused on his screen. The clip went viral. People on social media tore into him, and folks started asking if ESPN was asleep at the wheel. Fast forward a few months—Smith starred in an AI-generated ad that actually referenced his earlier solitaire slip-up, and then Papaya Gaming named him ambassador for both their brand and the upcoming 2026 World Solitaire Championship. That didn’t go over well. Fans blasted him, and suddenly there was even more attention on the app’s alleged cheating.
Now, Papaya Gaming faces several lawsuits. Plaintiffs say the company used AI bots disguised as human opponents, rigging the results in Solitaire Cash tournaments. They argue the game was marketed as skill-based, but court documents point to evidence that bots were programmed to sway the outcome. Players say they thought they were up against real people and feel duped—raising big questions about consumer trust and honesty. Papaya Gaming insists it did nothing wrong, claims it hasn’t used bots since late 2023, and plans to fight the accusations in court.
ESPN Endorsements Under Fire
While Stephen A. Smith was the main ambassador, several other ESPN figures—including Laura Rutledge, Dan Orlovsky, Kendrick Perkins, Mina Kimes, and Ros Gold-Onwude—took part in promotional campaigns for the app. The ads, tagged with #ad and #BeatStephen, encouraged downloads and engagement.
Former ESPN host Michelle Beadle openly criticized the promotion on her podcast, stating:
“I’m not a religious person, but I pray for the downfall. I really do. It’s gross, man. You’ve got to have principles in this thing. ESPN pays him a gazillion dollars to get a lot of stuff wrong and yell. He gets caught playing solitaire during the NBA freaking Finals, the thing he’s an expert in. He made you look like fools for handing him a blank cheque in the first place.”
Fans online didn’t hold back either. Comments like “Are you low on cash?” and “Corporate greed at its finest” flooded social media. Mina Kimes ended up apologizing publicly, saying she promoted the app without looking into it enough and called it “a colossal mistake.” Her post blew up, racking up millions of views and adding fuel to the fire.
The whole scandal puts a spotlight on the risks of celebrity endorsements in the gaming world, especially when the product in question is under legal and ethical scrutiny. It’s a wake-up call. If you’re a broadcaster or influencer, you have to do your homework before putting your name on something, or you could end up in a mess just like this—where your reputation’s on the line, and everyone’s watching.
Source: SiGMA News
