HipHopDX previously filed a $3 million suit against the 'Candy Shop' hitmaker after the latter branded the site as 'a bogus news outlet that does not check its facts' on social media.
- October 17, 2018
AceShowbiz - A defamation lawsuit filed by website bosses against rapper 50 Cent has been dropped.
The "In Da Club" hitmaker launched a $150,000 (£113,000) suit against executives at news website HipHopDX.com after they allegedly used a photograph of him without his permission to accompany a story in which writers said his claims that he had signed a multi-million dollar deal with Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion company, weren't true.
50 Cent hit back at publishers on social media and described their firm as "a bogus news outlet that does not check its facts" and branded the story "fake news." They responded by slapping him with a $3 million (£2.3 million) defamation lawsuit, claiming he tarnished their reputation.
His lawyers sought to have the action dismissed, and The Blast now reports that executives at Cheri Media - the parent company of HipHopDX.com - have dropped it.
Both sides had already reached a settlement regarding the photograph. Website bosses agreed to pay 50, real name Curtis Jackson, $20,000 (£15,000) to resolve the matter.
"The owners of HipHopDX offered Mr. Jackson a judgment against them in the amount of $20,000 to resolve his claims, which he accepted," the rapper's lawyer Stephen J. Savva told The Blast in August. He continued by calling the defamation lawsuit a "frivolous and an unfounded attempt to abridge Mr. Jackson's First Amendment right of free speech."
In September, 50 proved he was true to his word and announced his partnership and licensing deal with Bellator MMA, which includes an apparel line featuring his trademarked phrase, Get the Strap.
