50 Cent Sues Ryan Kavanaugh’s GenTV, Claims He Wasn’t Paid for Movie He Stars In

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50 Cent, also known as Curtis Jackson, has initiated a legal action against Ryan Kavanaugh’s streaming service, GenTV, with the aim of preventing the premiere of their first movie titled Skillhouse.

On Thursday, Jackson filed a lawsuit against Kavanaugh in a California federal court, claiming that Kavanaugh didn’t pay him and used his name unlawfully to advertise a horror movie, the first of several movies influenced by social media personalities. He asserts trademark violation, deceptive advertising, and unjust competition, demanding at least $5 million in compensation.

Previously, Kavanaugh was a significant yet unseen financier for films like “The Social Network”, “Step Brothers” and “Mama Mia!”, through Relativity Media. Unfortunately, this company faced bankruptcy in 2015. Kavanaugh has had his fair share of legal issues, such as settling disputes with Sony Music and Timbaland. However, he’s attempting a return to prominence. Last year, he announced the start-up of GenTV, a streaming platform aiming to create movies featuring influencers. His strategy is to capitalize on the vast social media fan bases for a business model that primarily focuses on direct sales.

In 2022, Jackson began discussing a collaboration with Kavanaugh on the production and acting for Skillhouse, a show where ten influencers compete in life-or-death social media challenges, as stated in the complaint. A provisional agreement was made, but neither party ended up signing the contract.

Despite waiting for a final agreement, Jackson and his son continued filming scenes. However, unfortunately, the lawsuit claims that Jackson’s trust was misguided, as no such agreement was ever formalized. Regrettably, the defendants have invoiced Jackson as both the lead actor and producer of the movie, even though no agreement was signed.

It is claimed by Jackson that he was given primary focus in marketing strategies for the film. Notably, a nearly nine-minute preview of the movie Skillhouse, accessible on GenTV without charge, features the title as “a 50 Cent film,” with Jackson cast in a leading role.

As a gamer and content creator, I’ve found myself in an unexpected situation. A legal dispute has arisen over a movie that’s being exploited to boost GenTV, a platform directly competing with my very own streaming channel, 50 Cent Action – a collaboration with Lionsgate where I personally curate titles from their extensive library. According to my lawyer, Jonathan Loeb, Kavanaugh and GenTV aim to capitalize on my reputation and goodwill among my massive fanbase to promote their film. But that’s not all; they also plan to use this movie as a weapon against my other business ventures, creating an unfair competition. Frankly, I would never have consented to let my intellectual property be used in such a way.

As a devoted fan, I can’t help but marvel at the impressive production journey Jackson embarked upon through his G-Unit Film and Television banner. He played a pivotal role as an executive producer in bringing to life “Power,” a series created by Courtney Kemp that made waves for Starz after its 2014 debut, spanning six seasons and spawning numerous spinoffs. His additional venture, “BMF” for Starz, has recently concluded its third season.

GenTV intends to unveil between five and ten movies every year, with each movie featuring prominent trendsetters. These movies will be launched as brief, episodic productions for social media platforms, while longer versions will also be made available in theaters. This strategy aims to blend short and long-form content consumption by offering both types of content to viewers.

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2025-04-26 01:24