50 Cent is suing Shaniqua Tompkins, his ex-girlfriend and mother of his child Marquise Jackson, over a series of “tell-all” Instagram videos that supposedly violate a life rights agreement she signed in 2007.
The rapper (Curtis Jackson) initiated the legal action on Thursday (July 17) via his publishing company G-Unit Books. The lawsuit alleges that Tompkins, who dated 50 Cent between the 1990s and mid-2000s, sold her life rights to G-Unit Books in 2007 in exchange for $80,000 and a percentage of future royalties from related projects.
“Jackson purchased these rights to preserve them for use in future biographical or autobiographical projects, but also in part because he was concerned that Tompkins would attempt to monetize their history and his name,” reads the complaint. “His concerns were ultimately proven correct.”
According to the lawsuit, Tompkins’ $80,000 deal granted G-Unit Books the exclusive rights to publicize or exploit her life story. But after Tompkins went viral with an Instagram post commenting on the criminal trial of Sean “Diddy” Combs in June, she allegedly began to blatantly breach the life rights contract by posting a series of “tell-all” videos to the social media platform.
The lawsuit says these videos, which are collectively over two hours long, focus mostly on Tompkins’ relationship with 50 Cent. Topics have included the rapper’s infamous 2000 shooting and his long-running feud with Combs.
“Tompkins’ actions are an attempt to exploit her 15 minutes of fame for commercial gain, even though she is contractually prohibited from doing so,” write lawyers for G-Unit Books.
This conduct has supposedly harmed G-Unit Books by “diminishing the value of the exclusive rights it acquired and undermining its ability to develop and market future works based on those rights,” the lawsuit says.
50 Cent’s publishing company is seeking at least $1 million in damages from Tompkins and a legal injunction forcing her to stop posting these videos, as well as to remove the content she’s already uploaded.
A rep for 50 Cent declined to comment on the lawsuit. Tompkins did not immediately return a request for comment on the allegations Friday (July 18).
