Rapper 50 Cent's Long Island, NY house burned to the ground on Friday in a fire that investigators have called "suspicious."
And I thought I had a bad day.
Six people were taken to the hospital as a result of smoke inhalation. It was confirmed that 50's ex, Shaniqua Tompkins, and her two children (one of whom is 50's son, Marquise) were living there.
The pair are caught up in a bitter battle about the house. Earlier this year 50 told his ex to pay rent or get out; in turn, Shaniqua slapped 50 with a lawsuit, claiming that he'd promised to put all or part of the $2.4 million dollar house in her name.
On the day of the fire, Shaniqua blatantly accused 50 of starting the fire. "Someone threw something in the window and set the house on fire," she said. "I know without a doubt in my heart it was him."
50, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, wasn't at the house or even in the state at the time of the fire; he was filming a movie in Louisiana. A statement to TMZ made by 50's lawyer, Brett Kimmel, dismissed Shaniqua's charges as "outrageous."
"Any suggestion that Mr. Jackson had anything whatsoever to do with the fire at his home is outrageous and offensive," the statement read.
Dix Hills Fire Department Chief Larry Feld, one of the first to reach the scene, told Newsday that "the rapid movement" and "volume" of the fire was what made it so suspicious.
"I would say there is a strong – a strong, strong – possibility that [the fire] is suspicious," he said. "It [the house] was engulfed. The home was totally gutted."
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