50 Cent Sues Ryan Kavanaugh’s GenTV Over Deal for ‘Skillhouse’

Curtis Jackson, aka 50 Cent, has filed a lawsuit in opposition to Ryan Kavanaugh‘s GenTV seeking to block the streaming platform’s inaugural movie Skillhouse.

Jackson, in a lawsuit filed in California federal court docket on Thursday, accuses Kavanaugh of failing to pay him and illegally exploiting his identify to advertise the horror film, the primary in a collection of influencer-driven movies the corporate plans to launch. He alleges trademark infringement, false promoting and unfair competitors, searching for at the least $5 million.

Kavanaugh was as soon as some of the prolific behind-the-scenes financiers of movies (The Social Community, Step Brothers and Mama Mia!) by way of Relativity Media, which sputtered out of business in 2015. He’s seen his share of authorized troubles, together with settled fights with Sony Music and Timbaland, and is staging one thing of a comeback. He introduced final 12 months the launch of GenTV, a streaming platform with plans to provide influencer-led movies. By his considering, he can leverage huge social media followings for a enterprise mannequin centered round direct promoting.

In 2022, Jackson entered into negotiations with Kavanaugh to behave in and produce Skillhouse, which follows ten influencers who’re pressured to compete in do-or-die social media challenges, in accordance with the criticism. A tentative deal was reached however neither aspect signed the deal.

Nonetheless, Jackson and his son filmed scenes for use as soon as a remaining settlement was reached. His “belief was misplaced,” the lawsuit states. “No remaining settlement was ever signed; however, Defendants have billed Jackson because the star and producer of the Movie.”

Jackson was made the centerpiece of promotional efforts for the movie, he alleges. A roughly nine-minute clip of Skillhouse, out there free of charge on GenTV, prominently labels the title as a “50 Cent film,” with Jackson in a starring function.

The lawsuit additionally takes challenge with the film getting used to advertise GenTV, which Jackson says straight competes along with his personal streaming channel, 50 Cent Motion, a partnership with Lionsgate that options titles hand-selected by him from the studio’s library. Kavanaugh and GenTV “plan not solely to steal Jackson’s popularity and goodwill amongst his tens of millions of followers to spice up their very own movie, but additionally to make use of that movie to unfairly compete with Jackson’s different enterprise ventures,” writes Jonathan Loeb, a lawyer for the rapper-turned-producer. “Clearly, Jackson by no means would have agreed to permit his mental property for use in such a fashion.”

Jackson, by way of his G-Unit Movie and Tv banner, has been constructing his manufacturing resume. Energy, the Courtney Kemp-created collection he govt produced, launched a run of hits for Starz after its 2014 debut, going six seasons and resulting in a number of spinoffs. His different collection for Starz, BMF, has wrapped its third season.

GenTV plans to launch 5 to 10 movies yearly, every headline by high influencers. They’ll be distributed as short-form episodic movies launched on social media and conventional options out there in theaters in a bid to merge brief and lengthy kind content material consumption.