Rapper 50 Cent must pay $2M in sex-tape lawsuit
Rapper Curtis Jackson, also known as 50 Cent, left court on July 21 after testifying in front of the jury about his finances, his business deals and the media attention surrounding his recent bankruptcy filing, in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
NEW YORK » Rapper 50 Cent must pay an additional $2 million in punitive damages to a woman featured in a sex tape posted online, a jury decided Friday.
The decision came two weeks after jurors ordered the multiplatinum-selling artist to pay $5 million to Lastonia Leviston.
Leviston’s invasion-of-privacy lawsuit argues that 50 Cent, born Curtis Jackson III, posted online a crudely narrated 13-minute sex-tape she made with a boyfriend in 2008. In the video, he taunts rival rapper Rick Ross, who isn’t featured in the video but has a child with Leviston.
After the jury’s verdict, Jackson filed for bankruptcy protection in Connecticut.
A lawyer for Leviston had urged jurors to award her $15 million. Jackson’s attorney had asked them to order he pay $700,000.
Jackson’s attorney, James Renard, said in a statement Friday that he was disappointed with the verdict. He said Jackson will ask the court to reduce the jury’s award.
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