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Artist News Legal
50 Cent sues plastic surgeon, denies he had penis enlargement
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 20 September 2022
50 Cent has sued a plastic surgeon, claiming the she has used photos he unwittingly took with her to imply that her practice performed penis enlargement surgery on the rapper.
In his lawsuit, 50 Cent – real name Curtis Jackson – says that he had his photo taken with Angela Kogan in February 2020, believing her to be a fan. However, since then, the picture has been used on Perfection Plastic Surgery Inc’s social media, suggesting that he endorses and has used the services of the company, which also trades as MedSpa.
The specific suggestion that Jackson might have used MedSpa’s services for surgery on his penis seemingly stems from an article on gossip site The Shade Room in which Kogan discussed the rise in plastic surgery for men, including penile enhancements. Suggesting that that interview was basically advertorial, Jackson’s complaint says that the image of him and Kogan together was also used in that article, along with another image that suggested that he had used MedSpa’s services.
“Jackson never had such a sexual enhancement procedure, he has never received plastic surgery from defendants, and he never consented to the commercialisation and publication of the photo”, says the lawsuit, according to Law360. “Defendants’ actions have exposed Jackson to ridicule, caused substantial damage to his professional and personal reputation, and violated his right to control his name and image (which has significant economic value)”.
“Defendants’ posts imply without any subtlety that Jackson endorsed MedSpa’s business and services”, it continues. “The original posts serve as attention-seeking MedSpa advertisements and capitalise on Jackson’s fame to do so”.
Regarding the Shade Room article and the implications it made regarding what kind of surgery Jackson may have add, the filing goes on: “The implication was clear. In the article, the photo is juxtaposed with an image of a faceless male obtaining a penile enhancement procedure, with a euphemistic eggplant emoji covering his exposed groin area. Neither defendants nor [The Shade Room] sought Jackson’s permission to use the photo, let alone in this particular manner”.
Jackson accuses Kogan and her company of unjust enrichment, conversion and invasion of privacy, Lanham Act violations and misappropriating his image in violation of his right to publicity. He is seeking an injunction to stop Kogan and Perfection Plastic Surgery claiming that he was ever their client, and from using the image of him and Kogan together to promote themselves. He’d also like some lovely damages too, thank you very much.
Kogan and Perfection Plastic Surgery are yet to respond.
