Rapper 50 Cent filed a $20 million defamation lawsuit against his ex-girlfriend, Shaniqua Tompkins, on Friday, in Connecticut. The suit aims at the public accusations Tompkins made after a fire destroyed last month the 5,200 square foot house he owned, but she lived in. Tompkins accused Curtis Jackson, the real name of the rapper, that he had threatened her life before the fire occurred.

Tompkins, along with the couple’s 11-year old son, Marquise, and four others escaped by jumping out of a second-floor window. Police said they were investigating the fire as suspicious. Since the incident, 50 Cent has repeatedly denied any involvement in the fire.

This is just the latest episode of the legal war between Jackson and Tompkins over money, which added to the couple’s court battles in Suffolk and Manhattan.

Earlier the same Friday, the rapper was ordered to surrender any guns he might have after a judge issued a temporary restraining order requested by Tompkins.
Jackson’s lawyer said he would challenge the order and that 50 Cent did not have guns or access to guns.
The order forbids Jackson to be in contact with Shaniqua Tompkins without the Court’s permission.

Alongside the defamation suit, 50 Cent's attorney also filed a visitation petition claiming that since the fire, Tompkins has been deliberately stopping the rapper from seeing his son in part by not disclosing their new residence, in direct violation of a court order from last June.

50 Cent is famous for having survived a brutal attack in 2000, when he was shot nine times at close range outside his grandmother’s house in Queens. Marquise, then 3, was inside the house.

50 Cent recovered well from the life-threatening experience, but his musical career was in jeopardy for a while, after major labels learned of the shooting and kept their distance. His luck changed when he met Eminem and later signed with Universal-owned Interscope Records.

50 Cent became hugely successful in 2003, with the release of his debut album “Get Rich or Die Trying,” produced by Eminem and Dr. Dre. His follow-up 2005 album “The Massacre” further strengthened his reputation.