50 Cent Show ‘Power’ In Lawsuit For Lifting Premise From Another Script

Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson cribbed the idea for his hit Starz show "Power" from two aspiring TV writers, a new Manhattan federal court lawsuit claims.

R. Byron Hord and Curtis Scoon say they wrote a pilot script for a TV show called "Dangerous" in late 2009.

"Dangerous" was about "an African-American Protagonist’s work as a drug dealer and subsequent attempts to launder his money and then 'go legit,'" they claim in the lawsuit.

Meanwhile, the main character of their show is "struggling with the balance between his friendship with an irish gangster and his female love interest."

They gave a copy of the script to several LA-based entertainment execs who, in 2011, met with 50 Cent and asked whether he wanted to develop it into a show, they say.

50 Cent never reached out to Hord and Scoon - but they say he did turn their script into the drama "Power", which stars Omari Hardwick as club owner James "Ghost" St. Patrick.

50 Cent is an executive producer of “Power” and plays Kanan, St. Patrick’s vengeful nemesis.

"Power," like "Dangerous," is focused around a somewhat young, African-American man from Queens who wants to get out of the drug business, and "pursue legitimate entertainment and business endeavors" instead, the lawsuit claims.

The dialogue of "Power" is also similar to that of "Dangerous," the men claim in their lawsuit.

"The dialogue of is also fast and heavy laden with the use of metaphorical slang and strong language, including but limited to the liberal use of the f-word, indicative of the way gangsters talk," court papers say.

"We're looking forward to litigating the case" said Kenneth Montgomery, who is representing the writers.

CBS, which is also being sued for its role distributing “Power,” said it was just “made aware of this filing and we are looking into this matter.”

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