A sex tape video featuring emcee Lavonia Leviston and her former boyfriend Maurice Murray that rapper 50 Cent posted online got millions of hits. The same video, it turned out, would also 50 Cent, Curtis Jackson in real life, at least $5 million after a jury decided on Friday a lawsuit that Leviston filed against him.
The $5 million damage, though, is just the tip of the iceberg since the same jury will weigh next week punitive damages against 50 Cent. The implication is that the rapper could be fined more millions further. In connection with next week's sessions to determine the rapper's punitive damage, the judge ordered 50 Cent to turn over documents to assess his net worth such as financial statements and tax returns for the last five years, reports the New York Daily News.
That would be on top of the $2.5 million damage for violation of Leviston's civil rights and using her image without permission and another $2.5 million for intentional infliction of emotional distress.
It was Rick Ross, an emcee who has a child with Leviston, who had a conflict with 50 Cent after Ross accused the rapper of staring at him the wrong way during the 2009 BET Awards. It resulted in an exchange between Ross and 50 Cent who decided to get even by posting the viral video on YouTube, reports TV3.
50 Cent placed on the video "Pimpin' Curly," a character he played, and included two of his songs in the clip that got more than 4 million hits. He then tried to escape legal responsibility by pointing to Murray as the source of the original sex tape. The rapper claimed that according to Murray, Leviston was "cool with it" when 50 Cent sought permission from the ex-boyfriend to publish online the video.
Because of the video, Leviston thought of committing suicide out of shame. She insisted that 50 Cent never got her permission.
50 Cent did not show up at the trial or for the verdict even if he was in New York at the time to celebrate his 40th birthday.