A judge has ruled that 50 Cent‘s case against a Miami plastic surgeon will not be dismissed. The rapper, real name Curtis Jackson III, is suing Angela Kogan of Perfection Plastic Surgery and MedSpa for allegedly using his image without consent to promote her products. According to 50 Cent, he believes the photo of himself with Kogan was used to insinuate that he was a client of hers and had undergone penis enlargement surgery. Say what?
- According to 50, he “graciously agreed” to take a photo with Kogan. He was at the spa as a former girlfriend was receiving free treatments at the time. However, things soon took a “disturbing turn.” When the photo was used Shade Room article about the rise in penis enlargement surgery for men, 50 Cent took legal action.
- Insinuating that someone uses services of any kind that they haven’t is against the law. While this was likely particularly embarrassing given the nature of the service, that doesn’t negate the fact that if Kogan legitimately used the picture in that way, it’s illegal. “Neither defendants nor TSR sought Jackson’s permission to use the photo, let alone in this particular manner,” lawyers for the rapper said in a court filing. “Even if defendants had asked for permission, Jackson never would have consented to Kogan or MedSpa’s commercial use of the photo, especially not in this context.”
- It wasn’t just about 50 Cent’s penis. His attorneys accuse Kogan not only of insinuating that he’d enlarged his manhood but of claiming that he’d had any kind of cosmetic procedures performed at all. “Not only were Jackson’s image and name linked to a sexual enhancement treatment he never had, but Kogan also falsely implied to the TSR reporter that Jackson was her client for plastic surgery more generally,” the lawsuit reads.
This is a pretty big deal.
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- So, what is Kogan’s defense? She claims that using the photo alongside the Shade Room article was “made solely for entertainment purposes.” She also claims that 50’s girlfriend was given her services gratis in exchange for promoting the business and that 50 said he’d do the same.
- Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. denied Kogan’s motion to dismiss the case. In fact, he believes 50 has a pretty strong foundation for a case. “As the proverbial saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words,” he wrote in his December 12 decision. “This one in particular depicts a worldwide celebrity next to Kogan with MedSpa’s name repeated all throughout the background. The promotional value is evident.” He also pointed out that Kogan used the photo again in a screencap of her scrolling through the article on The Shade Room. “That omission is fatal,” he wrote. “Because the defendants took it upon themselves to post the video onto their Instagram accounts, Jackson can plausibly argue that the defendants unauthorisedly used his likeness to promote their business regardless of whether the defendants had any role in TSR’s publication of either the tweet or the article.”
It’s unclear when this case will go to trial.
Featured image credit: Alex Const/CC-BY-2.0
