Ja Rule Hit With Lawsuit

A Miami homeowner, Jeannette Varela, has filed a lawsuit against rapper Ja Rule.

According to a suit filed Thursday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court, Varela alleges that MTV Networks is illegally airing clips of her home and wrongly portraying it as the residence of the well-known rapper. Ja Rule's label, The Inc. Records, and Universal Studios are named as co-defendants.

Varela, who lives next door to the sprawling estate recently purchased by NBA star Shaquille O'Neal, rented her 8,000-square-foot mansion to Ja Rule for the Memorial Day weekend in 2001. She alleges that she never authorized MTV to film inside her home and that the network has unlawfully broadcast the footage regularly since it was filmed nearly three years ago.

Varela alleges that The Inc., which rented the opulent home, breached its contract by holding a raucous party of 600 there and allowing MTV to shoot on the property. The lawsuit stated that ''after the party, there were numerous syringes and condom wrappers strewn about the mansion."

Although damages are not specified in the complaint, Cooper says they were easily in excess of $1 million. The suit alleges that the mosaic tile driveway was severely damaged, furniture was mangled, holes were knocked in the walls and doors were broken.

Under the lease agreement, which was attached to the lawsuit, The Inc. paid $16,000 to rent the property for four days. It also paid a $30,000 security deposit. However, Cooper stated that the $30,000 security deposit was not enough to pay for all of the repairs. He maintained that the bigger issue was MTV's filming of Ja Rule inside the home without Varela's permission.