Bebe Akinboade

RAPPER 50 CENTS FILES 11 BANKRUPTCY

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US rapper,
actor and businessman, Curtis Jackson known as 50 cents is seeking bankruptcy
protection in a United States Court after a jury Friday ordered him to pay $5
million to a woman who said he acquired a video she made with her boyfriend,
added himself as a crude commentator and posted it online without her
permission.
A Fox news report
said, the lawsuit stems from a 13-minute video that appeared online in 2009
featuring a wig-wearing 50 Cent as a narrator dubbed Pimpin’ Curly. The
character made explicit remarks about Leviston and taunted rap rival Rick Ross,
who wasn’t in the video but has a daughter with Leviston. At the time the video
surfaced, Ross and 50 Cent were trading barbs via video, lyrics and interviews.

Attorney
William A. Brewer III says 50 Cent and his legal team are “disappointed in the
verdict but very appreciative of the service of the jury and the court.”
50 Cent got
the 2008 tape from the man in it, Leviston’s boyfriend at the time.
The rapper
and his lawyers said that 50 Cent didn’t actually posted the video but that
Leviston’s then-boyfriend said she wouldn’t mind if he did, and he thought that
would suffice.
The Pimpin’
Curly character was just “joking” by referring to Leviston as a “porn star,” 50
Cent said during sworn pre-trial questioning that was played for the jury,
according to news reports. He didn’t testify at the trial.
But
Leviston, of Pembroke Pines, Florida, said she was horrified and humiliated
when the video appeared online.
“This was
something done to me. I didn’t have a choice. I would never, ever do this to
myself,” she testified, according to news reports.
Born Curtis
Jackson, 50 Cent burst to the fore of gangsta rap with 2003’s “Get Rich or Die
Tryin,’” its lead single, “In Da Club,” and a tough life story that included
being shot nine times.
Now 40, he’s
also a businessman — his interests have ranged from mining to water drinks —
and an actor whose credits include the Starz network action series “Power” and
the upcoming boxing movie “Southpaw.”
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