50 Cent gets rival rapper Rick Ross to testify in sex tape case fallout with old law firm
American rapper and entrepreneur 50 Cent got rival rapper Rick Ross to appear in the lawsuit that he has been waging against Reed Smith, his old law firm, according to reports. The firm has denied all the allegations.
50 Cent has alleged, as part of the $32 million civil case held in Atlanta, that his former law firm failed to secure testimony and evidence from Ross in regards to the posting of a sex tape that featured Lastonia Leviston, Ross' ex-girlfriend. Leviston won a case where she sued 50 Cent for allegedly posting the tape. She successfully won a $7 million judgment after she claimed she was caused "intentional emotional stress", but the rapper claims that Ross posted it first.
Fiddy's present lawyers say that they have been trying to subpoena Ross since last year. They also claim that Ross has managed to avoid process servers in the case. They tried to serve him at a hotel in Boston, at a show and at his home. A judge ordered Ross on March 11 to accept the subpoena and to be deposed on March 25, according to Page Six.
In what seems like a neverending beef between the two heavyweight artists, their history goes back to 2008 where 50 Cent complimented Ross on his number one album during an interview, but also warned him not to stand too close to Fat Joe who was feuding with him and G-Unit at the time, according to DJ Booth. Things got pretty heated over the years with one of the latest moments which occurred in 2016. Early that year, Ross told Rolling Stone that he's the biggest L 50 Cent ever took and 50 Cent responded to the interview with an Instagram post where a hyena is carrying the head of a severed deer. The caption read, “When it's all said and done, I will have his head. I said I was gonna talk less and do more this year, watch it play".
Imran H. Ansari, who is 50 Cent's lawyer on the present case, shared a statement with Page Six about the latest twist. “Rick Ross has been trying to duck this deposition since last year, and having not shown up for a hearing before a federal judge in Georgia last week, we are pleased with the judge’s decision to put an end to his evasiveness by making him accept a subpoena from my client and testify," Ansari said.
