Taco Bell criticizes 50 Cent over lawsuit

NEW YORK, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- U.S. rapper 50 Cent should have said "no," instead of filing a lawsuit, if he didn't want to appear in a Taco Bell ad campaign, the U.S. fast-food chain says.

Taco Bell invited the hip-hop artist via an open letter last June to appear in its ad campaign in exchange for a $10,000 donation to his favorite charity.

However, 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, filed a $4 million trademark infringement lawsuit in federal court in New York, claiming the restaurant franchise used his name without permission to generate publicity and that the stunt prompted his fans to accuse him of selling out.

"Jackson has used his colorful past to cultivate a public image of belligerence and arrogance and has a well-publicized track record of making threats, starting feuds and filing lawsuits," the New York Daily News quoted Taco Bell attorney Robert Lehrburger as writing in legal papers. "At the same time, Jackson holds himself out as a giver to charity and one who wants to give back to his community. This lawsuit is another of Jackson's attempts to burnish his gangsta rapper persona by distorting beyond all recognition a bona fide, good faith offer that Taco Bell made to Jackson."