‘Power’: 50 Cent Just Reacted to a Former Drug Lord Who Says the Rapper Stole His Life Story
The Power Universe on Starz has become one of the biggest franchises on TV. The original series followed drug kingpin, James “Ghost” St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick), as he attempted to leave behind a life of crime for a legit life as a businessman. However, as we all know we can’t outrun our past. It’s something that Ghost and his lifelong friend and business partner Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora) learn the hard way.
The success of Power has been so explosive that the original show has birthed several spinoffs, Power Book II: Ghost, Power Book III: Raisin Kanan as well as the forthcoming, Power Book IV: Force, and Power Book V: Influence. Now a real-life former drug kingpin is suing Power creator Courtney Kemp and executive producer Curtis “50” Jackson, for allegedly stealing his life story to create the show.
Did 50 Cent create the ‘Power’?
Power is loosely based on Kemp’s late father, who felt that appearance was the key to elevation. It began when the showrunner pitched an idea about a man who wanted to leave his drug empire behind to become a successful businessman. When it came to bringing this idea to life, Kemp reached out to 50 Cent to answer several questions.
“How does one sell drugs?” she asked the executive producer via Entertainment Weekly. “50 had full knowledge of this world,” Kemp says. Together, the duo fleshed out the Power Universe as we know it now.
Kemp told Variety, “There’s no version of Power working without our partnership. [50 Cent] has always been a great producer.” Now a former drug lord is accusing Kemp and 50 Cent of stealing his life story for Power. In April 2021,
AllHipHop reported that Cory “Ghost” Holland Sr. filed a lawsuit against 50 Cent, Kemp, and Starz, claiming that Power is based on his real life. He claims to have met Kemp’s father in the ’90s, later mailing him a CD with a song on it about his life.
However, 50 Cent is clapping back at these accusations.
50 Cent just reacted to a former drug lord claiming he stole the idea for ‘Power’
50 Cent, Starz, and their legal team are hitting back at Holland. “[Holland] fails to state any claim upon which relief can be granted. More specifically, [Holland] fails to identify any defamatory statements made about him in connection with the fictional television series Power, 50 Cent’s lawyer, Joanna M. Hill, of law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman, explained via AllHipHop. “He fails to allege that his name, portrait or picture was used in connection with Power, or that any such use was a prohibited advertising use.”
Moreover, 50 Cent is questioning why Holland waited until now, after the conclusion of six seasons of Power and several successful spinoffs.
50 Cent wanted to portray Ghost on ‘Power’
After collaborating with Kemp to make the world of Power as authentic as possible, the Queens-born rapper decided that in addition to producing the series and overseeing the music, he also wanted to star on the show. However, he would have overextended himself. “There was a point when I had to keep [Courtney] on this project,” 50 Cent told ESSENCE in 2017. “I said, ‘I’m going to play Ghost, I’m going to play the lead and you can just go make the show.’ She was like, ‘OK.’ Then when we got the show got picked up, she was like, ‘Listen, this means, you don’t do this, you don’t do this and you don’t do this.’ Then I was like, ‘So, can I do something else?’”
Though Ghost was too big of a role for 50 Cent, the role of Kanan Stark gave him a chance to flex his acting chops.
