50 Cent has waged a legal battle over the upcoming horror flick SkillHouse.
According to TMZ, the multi-hyphenate filed a lawsuit Thursday against Ryan Kavanaugh, a film financier who founded the GenTV entertainment platform. In support of its 2024 launch, the company released the first eight minutes of SkillHouse on GenTV.com, which lists 50 Cent as an actor and co-producer.
Fif reportedly signed on to the movie project in 2022 and has been featured in its movie trailers and other promotional content.
Fast-forward to April 2025, when 50 shared a series of Instagrams expressing his objection to SkillHouse’s release. As pointed out by AllHipHop, Fif claimed he never inked a final deal with Kavanaugh and his team, suggesting he was ready to take legal action if they refused to cancel the movie’s July 11 release.
“This guy Ryan Kavanaugh is doing everything in his power to make me kill this movie,” 50 Cent claimed in a since-deleted post. “This one is going in the trash CAN!”
“They can’t release this MOVIE SKILL HOUSE without my signature, which they do not have,” he wrote in another Instagram. “What kinda business are they doing? I’d hate to have to demonstrate.”
According to the legal documents, 50 agreed to appear in the project after he and the producers laid out the preliminary terms of the deal. But he claimed the deal was never solidified because he never signed a final contract, in which case Kavanaugh didn’t have permission to use Fif’s name and likeness for the film.
Fif, meanwhile, said he wasn’t interested in the project unless he could give “creative input,” per TMZ. He reshared the outlet’s article in a Thursday Instagram post and claimed he has yet to be compensated for his SkillHouse work.
“I didn’t get paid,” he wrote. “I’m afraid I’m gonna need that by Monday. You already know the vibes!”
SkillHouse takes place in a fictional content house where 10 influencers are forced to take on deadly social media challenges.
“SkillHouse has been a revolutionary film project from the outset—one that is thrilling and compelling for anyone on social media and horror fans of all ages,” Kavanaugh said in a press release. “SkillHouse is more than just a horror film, the project is right for the times and breaks barriers by leveraging the power and appeal of influencers and immerses them into the story.”
SkillHouse was directed and written by Josh Stolberg (Saw X, Jigsaw), and stars Bryce Hall, Neal McDonough, HannaH Stocking, Paige VanZant, and Emily Mei.
