HIP HOP NEWS
GOTTI ASSOCIATES HAD PLANS TO MURDER 50 CENT,
Affidavit Reveals
A 2003 affidavit used by federal agents to obtain a search warrant of the Murder Inc. offices that same year has been unearthed by Web site the Smoking Gun, and in it, more damning allegations against the label are coming forth. The most eye-opening is that Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, a convicted drug dealer and longtime friend of Irv and Chris Gotti, had been keeping tabs on 50 Cent's whereabouts and plotting to kill him.
"The investigation has uncovered a conspiracy involving McGriff and others to murder a rap artist who has released songs containing lyrics regarding McGriff's criminal activities," the affidavit reads. "The rap artist was shot in 2000, survived and thereafter refused to cooperate with the law enforcement regarding the shooting. Messages transmitted over the Murder Inc. pager indicate that McGriff is involved in an ongoing plot to kill this rap artist and that he communicates with Murder Inc. employees concerning the target."
The document references specific two-way pages between McGriff and members of the Inc., including Chris Gotti. It also says when law-enforcement agents questioned 50 in 2002, he told them that he keeps a considerable amount of security around because he fears for his safety.
Although the Smoking Gun infers that 50 is in fear of a possible hit by McGriff, 50 certainly hasn't shown signs of being scared of Supreme in his music. He has continually taken jabs at McGriff, the most recent being on the latest G-Unit record "300 Shots." "I'm 100 times, bigger than Supreme in his prime," Fif raps on the song.
Label representatives for 50 at Interscope declined to comment. Meanwhile Irv Gotti has constantly maintained that his friend McGriff — a drug lord who rose to power in the '80s before going to prison — has left his criminal ways behind. Gotti has also said their relationship is strictly confined to friendship and occasional legal business.
ICE CUBE HIT WITH $100 MILLION DOLLAR 'Barbershop' SUIT
Is it possible two people could have had the same idea for what would eventually become a box-office-busting film franchise? Not according to James Davis. The Montgomery, Alabama, filmmaker filed a lawsuit against O'Shea Jackson —
better known as rapper-turned-actor Ice Cube — and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures on Wednesday, alleging breach of contract and copyright infringement. The suit claims that the entire premise behind 2002's "Barbershop" — the hit comedy about a day in the life of a barbershop on Chicago's South Side — was lifted from a script he'd written years before the Cube flick made its way to the big screen.
According to court records, Davis' script, called "The Shop," was based on the time he'd spent at a barbershop in Atlanta; he claims to hold a copyright on the screenplay, and is seeking $100 million in damages. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, additionally lists State Street Pictures, Cube's Cube Vision Production, and the film's writers and producers as defendants.
"Barbershop," which also starred Eve and Cedric the Entertainer, grossed an estimated $77 million worldwide and spawned two sequels: 2004's "Barbershop 2: Back in Business" and this year's "Beauty Shop," starring Queen Latifah, Kevin Bacon, Alicia Silverstone and Mena Suvari. Those two films took in a collective $102 million in estimated global box-office receipts. The movies have also inspired a TV series, Showtime's "Barbershop."