50 Cent’s attempt to get a million dollars out of his ex, Shaniqua Tompkins, won’t happen thanks to a legal ruling in a New York commercial court — for now.
According to legal documents obtained by Complex, a judge in Manhattan refused to give 50 Cent’s G-Unit Books company an automatic default judgment after Tompkins missed deadlines to respond to the $1 million lawsuit over her agreement for life rights.
In the ruling, the court decided that Tompkins established a “reasonable excuse” as to why she hadn’t responded — namely that she doesn’t live at any of the three addresses at which Fif’s lawyers tried to serve her.
In addition, Judge Robert Reed said, Tompkins established that she did at least have the basis for a reasonable — “meritorious” in legal language — defense against the rapper’s claims.
As a result, Tompkins now has additional time to respond to the suit.
Last year, G Unit Books sued Tompkins for discussing her relationship with Fif on social media and in tell-all interviews, claiming that she destroyed the value of a life rights deal that she signed in 2007. This agreement, that his team argued was now useless, allegedly gave G-Unit books control over her name, likeness, and story of her life.
The rapper’s legal team also argued that she received an advance of $80,000 and was promised future royalties for a book that was planned.
In January, Tompkins claimed in a legal affidavit that Fif’s manager at the time she signed, Chris Lightly, found her and came to her hotel room in Las Vegas with a man that she believed to be his security guard. After she declined Lighty’s repeated attempts to get her to sign the agreement, Tompkins claimed that she was warned that she would “suffer severe consequences” if she didn’t comply.
"Fearing for my life and for my children's lives, I signed the agreement under extreme duress," she claimed. She also claimed that Fif would “use his power, wealth, and public platform to ruin me financially and personally” if she didn’t sign.
Tompkins claimed that she ultimately signed the agreement, even though she wasn’t allowed to look over the terms.