A lawsuit filed by rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson may put the brakes on an edition of The Infamous Times, a popular biographical DVD series that explores the seedier side of street life.
In a lawsuit filed yesterday (May 31), Jackson alleges that three video production companies used footage from a free interview he conducted with Jimmy “Henchmen” Rosemond’s Czar Entertainment.
“This lawsuit has no merit,” Rosemond told AllHipHop.com. “50 Cent agreed to do the interview and he knew this DVD was coming.”
The DVD is a biographical account of Brooklyn’s Kelvin “50 Cents” Martin, who was well known throughout the New York City underworld as a ruthless criminal that extorted and robbed various rappers throughout the 1980’s until his death in a hail of bullets at the age of 23.
The documentary also explores Martin’s family life and personality and features friends, associates, various rappers, DJ’s and 50 Cent himself, explaining Martin’s legacy and the similarities between Martin’s life and his own.
Jackson says the footage ended up in The Infamous Times: The Original 50 Cent: The True Story of the Legend Who Inspired the Biggest Name in Rap without proper permission.
Rosemond dismissed the lawsuit, labeling 50 Cent a “clown” who agreed to do the interview willingly.
According to Rosemond, the lawsuit came about after he did an interview with New York Magazine about the DVD.
“The only reason that 50 Cent is filing this is because I had told a reporter how he agreed to pay for Martin’s tombstone (which is featured in the DVD) and he never did,” Rosemond told AllHipHop.com. “He ducked me for two months over the $7500 bill.”
The lawsuit also claims Czar Entertainment reneged on an agreement to make a charitable donation to Martin’s family or Jackson’s new charitable organization, the G-Unity Foundation.
“I saluted someone [Martin] I’ve known since child hood with the DVD,” Rosemond continued. “I never agreed to make and I never will make a donation to 50 Cent’s [Jackson] charity. Obviously 50 Cent is clueless to our involvement with Martin’s family. We are in touch with the family and they will definitely be compensated.”
Rosemond, who also manages former G-Unit member The Game, said that the root of the lawsuit is 50’s jealousy over anything connected with The Game.
“He’s [Jackson] in a jealous rage, not only because of The Game, but because of how solid The Game’s management is,” Rosemond said. “He’s shown over and over again that when he’s afraid of The Game getting bigger in rap, he lashes out anyway he can.
“He needs to try to get as physical with me as he did with Game. He needs to cut to the chase and get physical, but we can do this on the court side too.”
Jackson seeks an injunction against Czar Entertainment, Vision Plant Pictures and Premo Pictures.
He also seeks an undisclosed amount in damages.
“He has no merit in his lawsuit,” Rosemond countered. “I have money, I’m not broke and I can fight 50 Cent in court too.”
Representatives for 50 Cent were not available as of press time.