Dive Brief:
- Rapper 50 Cent allegedly subjected a former employee to harassment, retaliation and intimidation over a period of several years because she refused to participate in illegal conduct at the artist’s request, according to a lawsuit filed April 29 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.
- The plaintiff claimed that the artist, whose legal name is Curtis Jackson III, directed her to place property in her own name and file a false police report during Jackson’s bankruptcy reporting period. After her firing, the plaintiff alleged that Jackson was behind a series of harassing phone calls and texts over a six-year period. She claimed the harassment escalated after she became a witness in a fraud case against Jackson.
- After she reported the alleged harassment, the plaintiff claimed she received voicemails from a caller singing the lyrics, “bang bang, I shot you down.” Her complaint alleged intentional infliction of emotional distress and invasion of privacy in violation of Georgia state law. A publicist listed for Jackson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dive Insight:
The plaintiff in Mayers v. Jackson claimed that the defendant’s workplace became “increasingly toxic” during the course of her tenure, with the artist allegedly falsely accusing one of his bodyguards of stealing a vehicle and cash.
“Jackson ran his workplace the same way he built his public persona: through fear, humiliation, loyalty tests, and punishment,” the plaintiff alleged. “Money bought power. Power demanded obedience. Anyone who refused became a target.”
Organizational misconduct is a persistent challenge for HR professionals, and it is a job made all the more difficult when an executive is behind the offending behavior, sources previously told HR Dive. Practitioners can face threats, harassment and other retaliation for seeking to hold organizational leaders to account, and doing so requires courage as well as careful handling of complaints.
In extreme cases, HR professionals may need to seek help from outside the organization in order to advance an investigation against top executives, and this step may also include notifying the C-suite or board of directors of the alleged misconduct.
Still, even the results of a well-conducted investigation of a misconduct complaint can face resistance or outright belittlement from leadership. Practitioners who find themselves in this scenario may consider speaking to legal counsel about how to move forward, HR Dive previously reported. They can also look to their network and peers for guidance on how to move forward and develop detailed intake processes to help determine how complaints should be handled ahead of time.
Several pop culture icons have found themselves at the center of misconduct or discrimination claims alleging the lack of a structured, compliance-oriented workplace culture — among other claims. In 2024, for example, rapper Ye was accused of racial discrimination, retaliation and creating a hostile work environment. And just a few weeks ago, a former employee for YouTube personality MrBeast accused him of violating the Family and Medical Leave Act, among other laws.