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Did 50 Cent's hotel preferences contribute to his bankruptcy filing?


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So 50 Cent has declared bankruptcy and the internet has made all of the most obvious jokes about how he doesn't even have fift– aw, you get it. Even Mr. Cent himself has made fun of his current situation, Instagramming a picture of himself standing in front of a Smartcar with the caption, "Times out here are hard LMAO." And Fifty – whose real name is Curtis Jackson – might be laughing his own ass off, because both he and his lawyers have said that filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy was simply "taking precautions" to protect his finances. And it's no coincidence that he's taking that particular precaution after a judge ruled that he had to pay $5 million to a woman who was featured in a sex tape he posted online without her permission.

But how did Jackson – whose fortune has been estimated at $155 million – lose it all? Or at least lose enough that his bankruptcy filings listed his assets in the $10 million to $50 million range? His travel habits, hotel choices and favorite restaurants might have something to do it. In an interview with Condé Nast Traveller, Jackson said that he'd just returned from a "family holiday" in Montego Bay, Jamaica with his grandfather, aunt and uncle. He also said that he practically lived in hotels – despite owning Mike Tyson's former Connecticut estate and properties in Atlanta, Los Angeles and New Jersey – and you know he's not staying at the Econo Lodge near the interstate.

Jackson said that he was a fan of the five-star properties in the Peninsula Hotel group, and The Peninsula Experience doesn't come cheap. At its New York location, the smallest room goes for $595 per night, while a similar Superior Room at the Peninsula Paris is $895 per night. His all-time favorite hotel is the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, which has been called "The World's Only 7-Star Hotel." And the guests are  – to put it in strictly economic terms – paying out the ass for each one of those stars: a one-bedroom suite is roughly $2,000 each night, while the cost of the Royal Suites can soar to more than $24,000 PER NIGHT.

Jackson has always been a pretty shrewd businessman (no, really), so he might scale back his travel in light of his recent financial troubles. Or maybe he'll just have to valet park that Smartcar at the Peninsula.