50 Cent has spent the last few decades juggling fiery hip-hop opposition, lots of pop culture gossip, and big business moves that have now landed him in court. He launched a lawsuit against the film Skill House's producer for using his name, image, and voice as an actor and producer without signing a contract to give his permission.
However, according to an exclusive report from AllHipHop's Grouchy Greg Watkins, producer Ryan Kavanaugh is not having any of this narrative. He and his legal team reportedly filed a motion to dismiss Fif's lawsuit for two reasons. First, he still promoted the film and acted in it, so Kavanaugh argues any subsequent walk-backs over contract issues are just to avoid other obligations. On the other hand, the documents that the G-Unit mogul did bring up to support his argument – which producers allegedly breached – are invalid in Kavanaugh's view.
Furthermore, the document in question is a May 12, 2025 settlement agreement. According to the motion, the document did not have the finalized signatures or follow-ups on future agreements to make this a legally binding contract.
50 Cent Movie
Elsewhere, the main document in 50 Cent's Skill House lawsuit is an alleged June 2022 email agreement, which Ryan Kavanaugh claims lacked clear terms. But since 50 continued to promote the film and acted in it, Kavanaugh believes this makes his argument null. In addition, he also argued that other emails and documents detailing the Queens icon's responsibilities provide even more proof of his compliance. As such, the motion blasts the notion that he waited three years before taking this to court while still benefitting from the film.
50 Cent still highlights his lack of contract as his main argument for claims of trademark infringement, unfair competition, and false advertising. He already tried to block Skill House's release, but a judge denied this request in July of this year.
Judge Hernán D. Vera relayed a similar argument to Ryan Kavanaugh's to justify his decision: 50's promotion of the film and continued collaboration with its team suggest that they reached a deal and that he approved of the movie's release, regardless of the paperwork. We will see how the court rules on this motion to dismiss in an October 23 hearing this year.
