Rapper 50 Cent (real name Curtis Jackson) has been ordered to pay $5,000,000 in damages to Lavonia Leviston after posting lewd footage of her with her ex-boyfirend Maurice Murray.
According to the New York Daily News, jurors deliberated for just over an hour before reaching their verdict. The damages are broken down and comprised of $2.5m for violation of civil rights and using her image without her permission in addition to another $2.5m for intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The jury is to decipher punitive damages next week which could result in the P.I.M.P. star shelling out several more millions in penalties.
The events began to spiral since the 2009 BET Awards when Fiddy, 40, supposedly looked at Rick Ross in the wrong way. In what appeared to be a revenge move against Ross, who shares a child with Leviston, 50 Cent uploaded the footage to YouTube.
The rapper had doctored the sex tape by superimposing his own character ‘Pimpin’ Curly’ into the clip. He also added 2 of his own tracks to the video, which got millions of views online.
50 Cent’s lawyers argued that he obtained the original sex tape featuring Leviston from Murray and his defence was that Murray told him Leviston was ‘cool with it’ being published online. Leviston has denied she gave her permission.
