50 Cent (pictured above) was sued on Wednesday for promoting the “gangsta lifestyle.”
The multi million dollar suit was filed by a 14 year old boy who was assaulted by friends of the rapper.
The boy’s name is James Rosemond. He and his mother, Cynthia Reed, says that Universal Music Group (which is owned by Vivendi SA) and its record labels Interscope Records, G-Unit Records and Shady Records, are all responsible for the assault because they encourage artists and fans to pursue violent, criminal, gangster-like lifestyles.
Aside from the record labels, the suit names Curtis Jackson (50 Cent’s real name), Violator Management (50 Cent’s career manager), Violator CEO Chris Lighty, Tony Yayo (one of the rappers of 50 Cent’s hip hop group, G-Unit), and Lowell Fletcher (one of Yayo’s employees).
According to Rosemund, he was assaulted on a Manhattan sidewalk last year by four men including Yayo (pictured below) and Fletcher.
In the suit, Rosemund added that he was attacked because he was wearing a Czar Entertainment shirt (Czar Entertainment is the management company that represents The Game).
The Game (pictured above), for all those who don’t know his history, was supposed to be a new addition to the G-Unit in 2005. Right before he hit it big with his first mainstream album “The Documentary,†he got kicked out from the group for not supporting their rivalry against other rappers. Moreover, aside from not supporting 50’s beef, The Game also wanted to collaborate with his rival rappers like Nas and Jadakiss.
Eventually, he too was already in rivalry with 50 Cent. And without the help of G-Unit, his debut mainstream album went multi-platinum. Now, the G-Unit’s beef with The Game includes his managers and the entire Czar Entertainment group.
Aside from the music rivalry, the boy James also happens to be the son of Czar Entertainment co-founder Jimmy “Henchman†Rosemund. Cynthia Reed believes that the group had a vendetta against Jimmy and took it out on their kid.
“It’s hard to believe that a 14 year old boy walking on E. 25th St. at 6 in the evening was attacked by four adult males just because of the shirt he was wearing,” said Reed and Rosemund’s legal rep, Atty. Richard Reich.
“The members of G-Unit, including defendants Yayo and 50 Cent, encouraged, sanctioned, approved and condoned its members threatening violence, and or engaging in violent acts in furtherance of its business,” said the lawsuit.
Rosemond also added that the underlying reason for the assault was to “promote and maintain Yayo and 50 Cent’s ‘gangsta’ image.” And that the gangsta lifestyle is “promoted, marketed and advertised” by their record labels.
Although I don’t see much difference between the artists of Violator and Czar in terms of promoting violence, I’m taking the “non-physical†side of Czar.
Last February, Marvin Bernard (Tony Yayo’s real name) already pleaded guilty to harassment charges (the criminal charge of misdemeanor assault was dropped when he pleaded guilty) filed by Reed and Rosemund for the same incident that happened in Manhattan. Bernard was sentenced to ten days of community service.
In the same proceedings, Lowell Fletcher pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child and was sentenced to 9 months behind bars.
According to investigations made on the incident, 50 Cent was out of town at the time. He was not formally charged in the first lawsuit.
But with this new suit, they are including the entire G-Unit camp and their lead “gorilla†50 Cent – whom they felt was responsible for the actions of his rappers and others connected with their record labels.
“Mr. Yayo pleaded guilty to violating New York penal law, and in the course of that case, [admitted] that he harassed my client and did so in a manner meant to threaten him, and agreed to perform community service for violating those laws,” said Atty. Reich in an interview with MTV News. “So I believe our case concerning civil assault and battery is strong against [him] and others.”
50 Cent’s lawyer, Atty. Benjamin Brafman, told the New York Daily News that Reed was only looking for a “quick payday” – while Cynthia claims she’s just looking for an apology.
Like I always say, keeping themselves in news like these actually help the careers of these rappers. Filing criminal charges against them only helps their bid to become real-life gangsters. I think this is exactly what they wanted.
