50 Cent ordered to pay $16 million over failed headphones deal

Rapper 50 Cent has been ordered to hand over $16 million to bosses at Sleek Audio over a failed deal to launch his own headphone line.

The In Da Club hitmaker, real name Curtis Jackson, partnered with company executives in 2011 for his own Sleek by 50 line, but the collection never materialised and he filed suit the following year (12) over allegations they did not refund him his initial investment after the project fell through.

He then went on to launch an earphones line with rival firm SMS Audio, but the announcement did not sit well with Sleek chiefs, who went on to accuse the rapper of stealing the designs of the over-the-ear products they had been developing together for his SMS line.

The two parties entered arbitration talks, and now it's been revealed that a judge at the District Court in Miami, Florida has affirmed an award in Sleek Audio's favor, demanding 50 Cent pay them $11.7 million in damages, in addition to almost $4.5 million in legal fees.