50 Cent is suing Taco Bell for using his name in their commercial advertisements of their new low price menu.

Taco Bell’s president Greg Creed officially asked the rapper to change his name from 50 Cent to 79, 89, or 99 Cent and promised $10K to his charity of choice if he agreed.

“We know that you adopted the name 50 Cent years ago as a metaphor for change. We at Taco Bell are also huge advocates for change. We encourage you to ‘Think Outside the Bun’ and hope you accept our offer.”

You have to admit, it was a funny offer, but we all knew that Fiddy would never do it.

But Fiddy apparently didn’t think it was so funny. He felt that his fans were accusing him of being a sellout and he feels used in that the company took his name without his permission to sell their product. He is asking for $1 million in damages.

The lawsuit document reads,

“Taco Bell traded on the name of the world’s biggest hip-hop star to draw attention to its new, hip-hop-based advertising campaign, and thereby generated massive publicity for its business.”

See the full news report here: CNN.com

Watch a Fiddy Cent Taco Bell parody here:

Rapper 50 Cent, who’s real name is Curtis Jackson, filed a defamation lawsuit against his ex-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins. Jackson is seeking $20 million dollars in damages for Shaniqua publicly accusing him of burning down his Long Island home in which she was living. Shaniqua alleges that 50 Cent was “trying to kill” her.

Jackson’s lawyer, Brett Kimmel, says, “It’s simply not true.” The ex-couple had been involved in a lawsuit regarding the rightful ownership of the home that burned down on May 30th, 2008. The battle has been escalating and Tompkins claims that Jackson had threatened her one week prior to the fire. The fire has been ruled “suspicious” by fire authorities and is still under investigation. I guess this is 50’s way of still getting his money.

The Long Island home that 50 Cent (real name is Curtis Jackson) and his ex-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins have been battling over has burned to the ground under very suspicious cirmcumstances. The fire broke out around 4:00 a.m. on Friday, May 30th and completely gutted the home.

Tompkins, her two children (one of which Jackson is the father), her sister, aunt, and cousin were all in the house when the fire started. Tompkins was awake caring for Curtis Jackson’s son, Marquise, when she heard something crash through the living room window.

Tompkins stated that, “around 4am someone threw a [molotov] cocktail in my house. I yelled, ‘Let’s get out of here, we have to go there’s a fire.”

They had to climbe out a second story window because the stairway was blocked by the flames. And all six people were treated for smoke inhalation.

A Dix Hills Fire Chief said that because of how fast the fire spread, “there is a strong- a strong, strong possibility that [the fire] is suspicious.”

Tompkins herself believes that Jackson is responsible for the fire. Stating,

Who do you think did it? Curtis Jackson. He threatened me on Monday that he was going to have someone visit me. My kids are in the house. Who would try to kill your own child? He’s supposed to be all about being a gangster… that’s not a gangster, that’s a coward.

50 Cent had won the right to evict Tompkins in April, but Tompkins sued him for breach of contract in May and a Manhattan judge put a hold on the eviction pending a future hearing.

Paul Catsandonis, Tompkins’ lawyer, stated that the fight for the house had become “extremely, extremely, contentious.” Catsandonis also stated that there was an “extremely dangerous incident” at his Manhattan office last Monday during Jackson’s deposition.

50 Cent’s lawyer, Brett Kimmel said, “Any suggestion that Mr. Jackson had anything whatsoever to do with the fire at his home is outrageous and offensive.”

Arson investigators were sent to the scene but said that it is too early in the investigation to say whether or not the fire was set deliberately.

Tompkins said, “I’m going to fight him to the end. This gives me more of a drive. I’m more determined than ever.”

Rap superstar 50 CENT is on the verge of signing a new branding deal with media mogul RUPERT MURDOCH’s company - worth a cool $300 million (£150 million).

The In Da Club hitmaker is in final negotiations with Murdoch’s News Corp firm - which owns social networking site MySpace - for a large stake in all aspects of the 50 Cent brand, including music, concerts, books and his label G-Unit Records. If the agreement goes ahead, G-Unit Records and its roster of artists will move under News Corp’s MySpace Records umbrella.

According to reports, half of the $300 million deal will be in stock, potentially making 50 Cent - real name Curtis Jackson - one of the biggest News Corp shareholders. However, the deal is not expected to be finalised until next year (09) - allowing the star to fulfil all of his contractual obligations with his current label, Interscope Records.