50 Cent’s billboards yanked after protests

By Steve Gorman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The distributor of rap star 50
Cent’s upcoming film said on Thursday it was taking down some
movie billboards near Los Angeles-area schools after community
leaders complained they glorify gangs and violence.

Posters for “Get Rich or Die Tryin”‘ show the chart-topping
gangsta rapper stripped to the waist in a crucifixion-like pose
with his tattooed, bullet-scarred back to the camera and arms
outstretched, holding a microphone in one hand and a gun in the
other.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich sent a
letter to distributor Paramount Pictures urging the billboards
be yanked, starting with one outside a public school in
Altadena, a suburb north of Los Angeles.

“This billboard conveys to the students a disturbing
message actively promoting gun violence, criminal behavior and
gang affiliation, he wrote in the letter to Paramount Motion
Pictures Group Chairman Brad Gray.

Antonovich said the billboard outside the school for sixth
through 12th graders was particularly egregious because the
community had recently mounted an anti-gang campaign.

Activists in the south-central L.A. neighborhood of Hyde
Park, another community plagued by gang violence, staged a
rally on Tuesday calling on Paramount to remove a billboard
next to a preschool. The sign was taken down the next day.

A spokesman for Paramount, a unit of Viacom Inc., told
Reuters that additional billboards were being pulled on
Thursday.

A studio source added that proximity to schools was a
factor in deciding which ones to remove.

Najee Ali, who organized Tuesday’s protest, welcomed
Paramount’s response as a “David versus Goliath” victory.

“We have a community group going up against a major studio,
and they backed down,” he said. “So everyone was … happy with
Paramount Pictures, and we commend them for showing corporate
responsibility.”

The R-rated film, whose title is taken from 50 Cent’s
major-label debut album, is due to open November 9. It stars
the rap artist, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, in a
biographical story about a drug dealer who abandons crime and
violence to pursue a music career.

50 Cent’s latest CD, “Massacre,” has sold 4.7 million
copies in the U.S. since its chart-topping release in March and
ranks as the biggest-selling album so far this year, according
to Nielsen SoundScan.

His previous album, “Get Rich or Die Tryin,”‘ also debuted
at No. 1 and sold 7.3 million copies.