50 Cent once pursued legal action against Taco Bell, filing a lawsuit amounting to $4 million. He claimed that the fast food chain used his ‘persona’ to market their budget-friendly menu.
At the beginning of 2008, Taco Bell launched the Why Pay More!? Value Menu, which was met with mixed reactions.
This menu offered customers signature items like burritos and nachos for just 79¢, 89¢, or 99¢ each.
To tie in with these prices, the company humorously suggested that 50 Cent, then 49, adopt the name 79 Cent, 89 Cent, or 99 Cent.
However, the marketing tactic did not go as planned and resulted in the ‘Candy Shop’ artist suing the subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc.
50 Cent, whose actual name is Curtis James Jackson III, was reportedly displeased with the campaign, asserting that Taco Bell had used his identity to advertise the menu without his consent.
“Without seeking or obtaining Jackson’s authorisation, defendant Taco Bell made him the star and focus of its nationwide advertising campaign by using his name, persona and trademark to promote Taco Bell’s business and products,” the lawsuit asserted, according to The Guardian.
“As Taco Bell intended, many customers believed that 50 Cent had agreed to endorse Taco Bell’s products. Indeed, postings on numerous internet ‘blogs’ castigated 50 Cent for ‘selling out’ by his apparent endorsement of Taco Bell,” the legal document further explained.
Meanwhile, Rob Poetsch, a representative for Taco Bell at the time, insisted that the proposal for 50 Cent to alter his name was made with ‘good faith’ intentions.
“We made a good faith, charitable offer to 50 Cent to change his name to either 79, 89 or 99 Cent for one day by rapping his order at a Taco Bell, and we would have been very pleased to make the $10,000 donation to the charity of his choice,” Poetsch remarked.
In the following year, it was disclosed that the rapper had succeeded in the lawsuit, but the terms of the agreement remained confidential.
The only disclosed detail was that both parties were responsible for covering their own legal expenses as part of the settlement.
“As is often the case in these situations, the parties have agreed not to discuss anything about the settlement except to say both sides are satisfied,” stated 50 Cent’s lawyer at the time.
Interestingly, it is not unusual for celebrities to engage in legal disputes with major corporations, as demonstrated by John Cena’s experience.
In 2017, the popular WWE star faced a $500,000 lawsuit from Ford for selling his new GT without permission from the carmaker.
After a year, they resolved the lawsuit outside of court, with Cena offering a public apology to Ford.