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The “Shoot the Rapper” (guess which rapper?) online video game an advertising agency has come up with was not amusing to 50 Cent, who has filed a $1 million lawsuit against the company.
50 Cent has filed a $1million lawsuit against Internet advertising company Traffix Inc., alleging the firm used his image for an advertisement that invites online visitors to shoot him.
While the ad does not use the rapper’s name, he says the likeness is all too obvious. The complaint filed Friday in New York State Court, as E!Online reports, calls 50 Cent’s depiction in the ad “vile, tasteless and despicable.”
The use of his image was also “completely unauthorized” and “literally calls for violence against him,” the lawsuit says. Upon hitting the rapper in the game, there is a spurt of blood on the screen.
50 Cent, 32, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, was shot nine times in 2000.
His lawyer Peter Raymond said Traffix Inc used his likeness without permission. This would suggest to would-be buyers that he endorses the game and products marketed with the promotion.
“For all those reasons, he is personally offended,” Raymond said. The lawyer specified that his client learned about the game from his management team, who saw it on MySpace.
The rapper is also seeking a permanent injunction against the use of his image without his agreement.
Traffix Inc.'s lawyer Ezio Scaldaferri told reporters that he had not yet seen the suit and couldn't comment.
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.
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