50 Cent Restrained, Sues Ex for $20 Million
Welcome to Family Feud: 50 Cent Edition.
It was a busy day for the rapper, who was slapped with a restraining order barring him from coming anywhere near his estanged baby mama but then retaliated with a petition to hold her in contempt of court andthe coup de grâcea $20 million defamation suit.
A Long Island judge signed off on Shaniqua Tompkins’ order of protection, requiring Fiddy to avoid any contact with his former paramour. Tompkins has maintained the rapper was behind a fire that forced her out of the home they once shared, a charge 50 Cent vehemently disputes.
Additionally, the order stipulates that on the days he’s scheduled to see the couple’s 11-year-old son, Marquise, all pickups and dropoffs must be done “at curbside.” Last, Fiddy (whose real name is Curtis Jackson) must forfeit any and all firearms he owns.
“I will not let this man break meI won’t,” the 32-year-old Tompkins said in court.
The rapper is in Canada on business and did not attend the hearing.
Fiddy attorney Brett Kimmel called the order “a retaliatory and vindictive move.” In response, his team filed the contempt petition, alleging Tompkins is not living up to the terms of their custody agreement. (View the petition.)
“Ms. Tompkins is refusing to permit my client to have any contact with his son at all, even to the extent of not revealing his location to him. So we’ve asked the judge to order that access be given,” Kimmel told News.
Per the petition, Tompkins “made it practically impossible” for the rapper to see his son. Affter the inferno destroyed Marquise’s cell phone, the rap star sent a replacement, but she refused to give it to the youngster, per the court papers.
Kimmel claims Tompkins’ behavior could have damaging effects on Marquise’s welfare. The attorney said that she didn’t need to attend the hearing, but did so anyway, bringing the boy with her and giving media interviews in his presence.
“This was all right there in front of him,” he noted.
50 Cent’s camp also served Tompkins with the defamation suit outside of court. (View the lawsuit.) Kimmel said the rapper opted to take the action because he could no longer stand her accusations that he was behind the suspicious fire that gutted her Long Island home on May 30.
She and Marquise were forced to flee through a second-floor window as the fire spread and were treated for minor injuries along with four other people. Not long afterward, Tompkins told the press that 50 Cent had threatened her in the week prior to the blaze.
Kimmel refuted those allegations before Suffolk County Family Court Judge David Freundlich, leading to some lively sparring with Tompkins’ counsel.
“Mrs. Tompkins is promoting the idea that my client is trying to kill her and her son,” Kimmel told the judge.
“Your honor, are you going to listen to these baseless allegations?” responded Tompkins’ attorney, Paul Catsandonis.
Afterward, Catsandonis told News that the fire and legal squabbling has taken a toll on his client and Marquise, who’s caught up in the middle.
“Clearly, [Tompkins] has been traumatized from what’s happened with the fire and now with this defamation lawsuit. [50 Cent] has also made a motion for a visitation order from family court. That’s going to make Marquise a subject of litigation now,” the attorney said.
“Marquise is trying to recover from a traumatic experiencehe’s going to have to be interviewed, serve as a witness, and it’s unfortunate. 50 and his camp, they’re the ones who are initiating these things.”
Fiddy has been in a bitter legal battle with Tompkins for sometime now over the $2.4 million residence, which he purchased in January 2007. He even sought to have her and Marquise evicted unless she ponied up $4,500 in rent. That subsequently led Tompkins to fire back with a breach of contract suit, alleging he promised to put the house in her name.
Investigators suspect arson in the blaze but have yet to make any arrests. At the time of the fire, the performer was in Louisiana filming the movie Microwave Park with Sharon Stone and Val Kilmer and is not considered a suspect.
Stuntman Dies on John Woo Film
A stuntman is dead after a fire swept through a film set of John Woo’s upcoming Chinese-language historical epic, Red Cliff.
Six others were also injured in the accident, per the Beijing News. During filming of an action sequence in the Chinese capital, the special-effects crew intentionally set fire to a small boat, which crashed into a larger vessel as planned, but the inferno raged out of control and overwhelmed both boats before it could be extinguished.
The 23-year-old stuntman was killed in the explosion, while the other crew members were taken to a nearby hospital. No word on their condition.
”[The crew] is deeply distraught and full of regret. They are making every effort to make arrangements for the deceased, his family and the injured crew members,” producers said in a statement.
Woo was in Hong Kong promoting the movie when he learned about the disaster and immediately hopped a flight back to Beijing.
Red Cliff, starring Asian heartthrob Tony Leung, marks the acclaimed action director’s first Chinese-language effort in 15 years and tells the tale of one of China’s most fabled ancient battles.
Superteaser for VH1’s I Love Money
VH1 released a superteaser for their new summer celebreality series I Love Money last Friday. From the looks of the video, I Love Money will be more of the trashiness and scandal we’ve come to expect from other VH1 shows like Rock of Love, Flavor of Love, I Love New York and Charm School. The cast will be split into two teams (gold and green) and compete for a $250,000 prize a lá the Real World / Road Rules Gauntlet or Inferno shows. However, since this cast is less athletic and more skanky than the RW/RR folks, the actual challenges themselves look like they will be much more entertaining. And of course, you won’t be tuning in just for the competitions. According to the superteaser, they’ll be hook-ups, secret alliances, a spitting contest (perfect for Pumkin), and even some “true” love.
The superteaser is five minutes long! That’s five minutes of skanky goodness for your enjoyment.
V For Vendetta’s James McTeigue to Direct Revelation
Director James McTeigue looks to follow-up his gig on the Wachowskis-produced Ninja Assassin, currently in production, with Revelation, a thriller with a sci-fi twist from Inferno Distribution. The pic will follow a female journalist following a string of “bizarre murders and discovers that the victims were all treated by the head of an org that researches alien abductions.” The brothers Wachowski are not listed as being involved this go around. John Salvati, who penned 2009’s Dali and I: The Surreal Story starring Al Pacino, wrote the screenplay. Nothing about this news makes me raise an eyebrow or a sparkler just yet, you?
via Variety