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50 Cent Creditors File Repayment Proposal
Impatient for their money, the woman who won $7 million from rapper 50 Cent in a sex-tape dispute and partners in a failed headphone deal have teamed up to take his personal bankruptcy into their own hands
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It's a fine line being insta-stuntin and bankruptcy fraud, shyt head
Impatient for their money, the woman who won $7 million from rapper 50 Cent in a sex-tape dispute and partners in a failed headphone deal have teamed up to take his personal bankruptcy into their own hands
- In court papers filed Thursday, the unpaid groups asked a bankruptcy judge to put a Connecticut lawyer named Richard M. Coan in charge of the 40-year-old entertainer’s business affairs, giving him the power to pay off the debts over the next five years.
With the title of trustee, Mr. Coan would sell off property owned by 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis James Jackson III, and oversee the entertainer’s recording contracts, endorsement deals and other pursuits, according to documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Hartford, Conn.
The 37-page repayment proposal didn’t say how much Lastonia Leviston, the woman behind the sex-tape dispute, or the headphone partners would ultimately collect from Mr. Jackson over the repayment period.
Mr. Jackson filed for chapter 11 protection on July 13, shortly before jurors were scheduled to determine whether he should pay additional damages in the sex-tape lawsuit filed in 2010 by Ms. Leviston, rapper Rick Ross’s ex-girlfriend.
The verdict in the sex-tape lawsuit, which accused Mr. Jackson of posting the video on his website in 2009 as part of a “rap war” between himself and Mr. Ross, came as Mr. Jackson lost a dispute over a broken business deal to develop headphones. Mr. Jackson owes $18 million in that dispute, according to court papers.
In that business venture, an entity called Sleek Audio LLC made a deal with G-Unit Brands, Mr. Jackson’s licensing company, to allow Sleek to use Mr. Jackson’s trademarks. The deal fell apart when “Sleek failed to have the headphones ready for commercial production by the February 15, 2011, deadline,” Mr. Jackson’s bankruptcy lawyers said. Sleek Audio’s lawyers later filed an arbitration proceeding against Mr. Jackson, accusing him of stealing the design of the “Sleek by 50” headphones.
Mr. Jackson’s lawyers called Thursday’s plan “nothing more than a bad faith litigation tactic aimed at denying Mr. Jackson his rights” under bankruptcy law.
“The plan cannot be confirmed as a matter of law,” his lawyers said Thursday.
Judge Ann Nevins agreed to look over the proposal at a Feb. 18 hearing.
In the proposal, lawyers for Ms. Leviston and Sleek Audio noted that Mr. Jackson has been posting photos of himself on Instagram with stacks of cash and boasting about property purchases—none of which appear to be assets reflected in court papers. In November, he posted a photo on Instagram of stacks of money in his refrigerator, while another picture several weeks later has the rapper sitting on a bed with piles of money covering his legs.
In September, he also claimed to buy a house in Africa.
People who file for bankruptcy have to list in court documents all of the valuable items they own. If Mr. Coan is appointed, he would “be charged with the duty of reviewing and examining” the posts, according to court papers.
“A further review of [Mr. Jackson’s] social media accounts reveal other similar photos posted post-petition revealing [his] appearance at numerous and varied entertainment related events,” lawyers who wrote the plan said. “The [plan] proponents believe it is commonplace in the [his] industry for appearance fees and other remuneration to be received by [Mr. Jackson] in connection with such appearances.”
Mr. Jackson appeared on the music scene in 2003 with hit rap song “In Da Club.” He has sold more than 22 million albums and acted in films, including the recent boxing drama “Southpaw.”
His Farmington, Conn., mansion, once owned by boxer Mike Tyson, is reported to have 21 bedrooms, a racquetball court, a home movie theater and an eight-car garage.
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It's a fine line being insta-stuntin and bankruptcy fraud, shyt head
