50 Cent’s Bankruptcy Storms the Internet

This week on The Broke and the Beautiful, 50 Cent’s bankruptcy has stormed the Internet.

As Bankruptcy Beat first reported, 50 Cent filed for bankruptcy in Connecticut the same day he was to appear in court over a sex-tape lawsuit filed by Lastonia Leviston, rapper Rick Ross’s ex-girlfriend. 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis James Jackson III, took to Instagram to joke about his financial state in bankruptcy and later spoke with Conan O’Brien about the filing (h/t Business Insider). “You get a bull’s-eye painted on your back when you’re successful,” he told the comedian, adding that “you become the ideal person for lawsuits.”

Bankruptcy Beat reported that in court papers filed Thursday night, the rapper and actor said his bankruptcy filing wasn’t because of too many expenses but that it was due to “substantial costs of litigation.” His lawyers said that although he has “substantial assets, he does not have the ability to pay the full amount” of the claims. “The debtor filed his Chapter 11 petition to obtain the full protections of the bankruptcy laws, including the benefit of the automatic stay, in order to reorganize his financial affairs in a reasonable and timely manner,” court papers noted.

50 Cent’s bankruptcy isn’t the only thing he’s concentrating on, though. He is also making the rounds promoting his new boxing drama, “Southpaw,” and his Effen brand of vodka.

“I’m not panicking,” he told Entertainment Tonight, adding that “I have faith in the court systems” and that he knows he needs to “just relax and go through the process.” He noted to Larry King that he wasn’t fazed by criticism over his bankruptcy and that it’s “a move that was necessary for me to make at this point.”

The rapper’s chapter 11 filing Monday followed a May chapter 11 filing by 50 Cent’s boxing promotion company, SMS Promotions LLC. At the time Ms. Leviston’s lawyer said the filing was an “egregious case of sandbagging.”

Write to Melanie Cohen at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @MelanieLisa