The In Da Club hitmaker sued HipHopDX.com executives after they allegedly used a photograph of him without his permission.
- Aug 24, 2018
AceShowbiz - Rapper 50 Cent has partially settled a legal battle with bosses at a news website.
The In Da Club hitmaker launched a $150,000 (£117,000) suit against HipHopDX.com executives after they allegedly used a photograph of him without his permission to accompany a false story suggesting he had sold the trademark to the phrase "Get the Strap" to Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion.
50 Cent hit back at publishers and described their firm as a "bogus news outlet" following the publication of the story and they subsequently slapped him with a $3 million (£2.3 million) defamation lawsuit.
The hip-hop star's lawyers were seeking the dismissal of the company's defamation suit on the grounds it threatened their client's freedom of speech, while HipHopDX bosses claimed 50 tarnished their reputation by telling his millions of social media followers they did not report the truth.
However, according to The Blast, the website bosses have since agreed to pay 50, real name Curtis Jackson, $20,000 (£15,600) to settle the lawsuit over the picture. The defamation case is still moving forward.
"The owners of HipHopDX offered Mr. Jackson a judgment against them in the amount of $20,000 to resolve his claims, which he accepted," the rapper's lawyer Stephen J. Savva tells The Blast. "We have not agreed to resolve the counter-claim filed against him at this time.
"We plan to aggressively litigate that matter, as we believe it is frivolous and an unfounded attempt to abridge Mr. Jackson's First Amendment right of free speech."
