According to The Hollywood Reporter, 50 Cent (Curtis Jackson) filed a lawsuit in California's federal court on Thursday against streaming platform GenTV to stop the release of its inaugural film Skillhouse, in which he stars.

Jackson apparently claims that he shot his scenes without a contract in place. He claims the contract was to be signed after his work, but he was never sent a contract.

Further, he accuses Ryan Kavanaugh (GenTV's owner) of failing to pay him, illegally exploiting his name to promote the film, trademark infringement, false advertising and unfair competition. Jackson is asking for $5 million minimum in damages.

Jackson's lawsuit further complains that GenTV is using him to promote the network, which is in direct competition with Jackson's streaming channel 50 Cent Action.

It's going to boil down to a judge deciding whether or not Jackson and Kavanaugh had a verbal agreement to sign a contract after the scenes were filmed, but before promotion and streaming started.

One of my problems with this situation is that Jackson has been in the entertainment industry for more than 22 years. Surely, he knows not to do any work before a contract is signed. On the other hand, Kavanaugh really shouldn't be releasing the movie until a contract is signed. It seems to me that they were both incredibly irresponsible for this debacle. I look forward to hearing the judge's take on it.