Summary: 50 Cent must pay millions to a woman after he posted a sex tape of her on the Internet.
Hip hop artist 50 Cent has been ordered to pay an additional $2 million in punitive damages to a woman after he posted her sex tape on the Internet, according to the Associated Press.
The jury decided the punitive damages issue on Friday. Two weeks earlier, 50 cent was ordered to pay $5 million to the woman, Lastonia Leviston.
A judge ruled that the case would progress, even though 50 Cent had filed for bankruptcy.
Leviston sued 50 Cent for his actions in an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit. The case alleged that 50 Cent posted a crudely narrated 13-minute sex tape that she made in 2008 with a boyfriend. In the video, 50 Cent taunts Rick Ross, his rival in the rap world, although he is not featured in the video. Rick Ross and Leviston have a child together.
The founder of “Girls Gone Wild” was featured in a leaked sex tape in 2013.
After the verdict, 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson III, filed for bankruptcy protection in Connecticut. The New York Daily News adds that although he was once one of the richest rappers in hip hop, he now owes around $30 million to various creditors and owns assets with a value of around $24.5 million.
Read about the bankruptcy filing here.
An attorney for Leviston asked the jury to award $15 million, and Jackson’s attorney asked them for a $700,000 reward. According to Business Insider, the rapper appeared in court on Tuesday and testified that his wealthy appearance is all an act and that he “takes the jewelry and the cars back to the stores.”
Jackson’s lawyer, James Renard, said he was disappointed in the verdict, and that Jackson will seek a reduction of the jury’s award.
Source: Associated Press
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