Radev v. Gill: 2024 'Pump-and-Dump' Class Action Against Roaring Kitty Dropped in Three Days
June–July 2024
When Keith Gill resurfaced in 2024, an investor filed a securities-fraud class action alleging a GameStop 'pump-and-dump' tied to his Reddit/X posts; he voluntarily dismissed it three days later, without prejudice.
What happened
After a three-year absence, Keith Gill ('Roaring Kitty'/'DeepFuckingValue') returned to social media in May 2024, and GameStop shares spiked. On June 28, 2024, investor Martin Radev filed a proposed securities-fraud class action in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York alleging Gill ran a 'pump-and-dump': the complaint claimed he quietly amassed a large GameStop call-option position before his cryptic May 13 posts, drove the stock from roughly $17 to about $48, and then profited as it fell, without adequate disclosure. The proposed class period ran from May 12 to June 13, 2024.
The suit was extraordinarily short-lived. On July 1, 2024 — three days after filing — Radev voluntarily dismissed the case. The dismissal was without prejudice, leaving open the possibility of refiling; neither side publicly explained the withdrawal. Legal commentators noted the complaint faced steep hurdles on loss causation and scienter.
The episode again raised the unsettled question of when a high-profile Reddit/X retail figure's market commentary crosses into actionable manipulation — and underscored how difficult such claims are to sustain. The allegations were never tested on the merits.
Impact
Highlighted both the recurring legal exposure of influential meme-stock posters and the practical weakness of such claims; the rapid voluntary dismissal left the manipulation question unresolved.