According to court documents obtained by The Blast, HipHopDX.com is accusing 50 of tarnishing their reputation by branding them “fake news”.
“The celebrity known as 50 Cent has maliciously used his power and influence to falsely attack a small, independent media company for its unfavorable but entirely truthful content,” the lawsuit claims. “In late June 2018, it exposed as false certain public statements made by 50 Cent claiming to have sold the rights to a three-word catchphrase for a million dollars.”
HipHopDX says they reported truthfully and as a result, 50 Cent retaliated against them by falsely publishing to his millions of social media followers that they were wrong and labeled their outlet “as a bogus news outlet that does not check its facts.”
HipHopDX goes after 50 like the New York Times would go after President Donald Trump, saying at one point, “False attacks by celebrities and public figures on journalists and media companies, branding them as ‘fake news,’ have become a powerful weapon for pulling readers away from otherwise respected sources. These are not merely political or public relations issues for media companies. Rather, they are attacks on a business and constitute classic defamation – false assertions to the public that are intended to, and do, damage a person or company in their professional reputation.”
As The Blast first reported, 50 originally sued HipHopDX over a photo he claims they used that actually belongs to him. He says he never gave the site permission to use the photo and sued for copyright infringement.
But HipHopDX claims 50 did not own the photograph when they posted it, but rather he “allegedly obtained the rights to for the sole purpose of bringing this lawsuit.”
The site denies all allegations in 50 Cent’s lawsuit against them and they are demanding $3 million in damages.
