Rapper 50 Cent sued a jeweler for trademark infringement and violation of his right of publicity.
After several warnings, 50 Cent filed a lawsuit against jeweler Maksud Agadjani, who appeared in the film “Uncut Gems” with Adam Sandler, and his company TraxNYC Corp., for using his name and face to sell fakes of his famous necklace, TMZ reported.
The accused notably shared content on social networks showing replica necklaces from August to October 2024, accompanied by images of the artist, born Curtis James Jackson III, thus deceiving consumers into believing that he had validated these products.
“The defendants, who are in the jewelry business, willfully and knowingly created imitations of an original necklace designed exclusively for Jackson; “used Jackson’s name, likeness and other intellectual property rights to mislead consumers into believing that Defendants’ reproductions are affiliated with Jackson,” reads the complaint obtained by The Wrap. .
Earlier this month, Maksud Agadjani posted a photo of 50 Cent and Drake, with the caption: “Yo @50 Cent you should be a jeweler. Go to traxnyc.com or call 212 traxnyc. The jeweler’s company posted an image of the musician and the channel earlier this week, with Maksud Agadjani saying: “50 Cent has this new cross that I like and guess what, I made it. Why not?…50, thanks for the inspiration. You are a true gentleman. I’m sure you won’t mind… I don’t know where 50 got his, but I know where I got mine. From him.”
In response, 50 Cent warned the accused, commenting, “That was a bad idea, you’ll regret it.” To which the jeweler replied: “Don’t you have better things to fear?”
“The cross is for forgiveness”
The complaint states that the artist never purchased this necklace from TraxNYC and did not authorize the company to “capitalize on his goodwill and reputation in order to promote their products and services.”
The rapper demanded $5 million in damages, as well as a court order to prevent future use of his image by the jeweler. “Mr. Jackson takes the unauthorized use of his name and likeness for commercial purposes seriously,” a representative for the rapper said.
However, Maksud Agadjani appeared to react on Instagram, saying: “Yo 50, the cross is for forgiveness, for redemption, for the forgiveness of sins. Forgive, forget. Forget it, brother.”
50 Cent doesn’t seem to see it that way, and posted a photo of an ad from the jeweler, with the message: “This idiot took my custom piece, copied it, then posted this 7 hours ago using my likeness to sell them. He must not know how it works, if he talks to a lawyer they will tell him it’s not good.
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