Rapper Says Lawyers Botched His Sex Tape Case Against Rock Ross’ Baby Mama
50 Cent says his lawyers screwed him over in his $7 million sex tape case with Rick Ross’ baby mama, and has headed to court to demand the firm be punished, BOSSIP has learned.
50 – who was born Curtis Jackson – has sued his ex-lawyers Reed Smith LLP in a $25 million case for malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty, alleging the firm botched his defense intentionally in Lastonia Leviston’s lawsuit against him that accused the rapper of leaking a homemade video of her having sex with her then-boyfriend, Maurice Murray.
50 said Reed Smith failed to reveal their conflict of interest in the case because the firm’s lawyers had previously agreed with Rock Ross’ lawyer not to have Ross, Murray, or the internet provider, testify in the case, but never told him about the deal.
According to court papers, 50 Cent said his lawyers claimed they did everything to try to find Murray – when in fact he believes they didn’t look for him at all, and his other legal team did a simple search and found him locked up in a New Jersey prison.
He said the lawyers intentionally withheld information from his new legal team when he fired them as Leviston’s lawsuit accusing him of leaking a homemade video of her having sex progressed, according to court papers obtained by BOSSIP.
The rapper and “Power” actor said the lawyers’ misconduct cost him the case against Leviston, where a jury awarded her with a total of $7 million in damages. Shortly after the jury announced the judgment, 50 Cent filed for bankruptcy.
The “In Da Club” rapper said he shouldn’t have to pay any of the more than $500,000 in legal fees connected with their pre-trial prep for the case because the lawyers messed it up so bad.
50 said those failures meant he wasn’t able to properly mount a defense in the sex tape case, leading to the massive judgment against him. The rapper insisted that Murray gave him the sex tape and told him he had the authority to publish the video. But he said that Ross was the one who actually first published the sex video on his website. 50 said all he was guilty of was putting a link up on his own website to Ross’ original video, and he said his lawyers knew about all of this, but failed to act.
50 Cent also said the lawyers charged him “excessive legal fees” for the trial prep – $521,000 in total – on top of the $1.5 million he’d already shelled out.
Reed Smith had been 50’s go to attorneys for more than 10 years, repping him in several cases involving his entertainment and business matters. The rapper said he trusted the firm and never thought they would put their own greed before 50’s financial, legal and career’s wellbeing.
50 wants $7 million in damages – the same amount the jury awarded to Leviston – along with punitive damages of $25 million.
The lawyers haven’t responded to 50’s legal claims.
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