Rapper 50 Cent has spoken out on reports he filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy on Monday morning, telling E! News, "I'm taking the precautions that any other good businessperson would take in this situation.”

Speaking at a junket for his new movie Southpaw – also starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Rachel McAdams – 50 continued, "You know when you're successful and stuff, you become a target. I don't wanna be a bulls eye. I don't want anybody to pick me as the guy that they just come to with astronomical claims and go through all that."

The hip-hop star – whose real name is Curtis Jackson III – was ordered to pay Lavonia Leviston $5 million last week, after a court ruled that he had leaked a sex tape of her and another man without her permission.

In legal documents for the bankruptcy filing, 50 says his assets are valued between $10 million and $50 million, and his liabilities are also in this region. His estimated number of creditors is between one and 49.

"Walt Disney has filed bankruptcy. Donald Trump has filed bankruptcy," he told E! "It means you're reorganising your finances, but it does stop things from moving forward that you don't want moving forward. I gotta decent legal team. You don't have to worry."

We’re not sure ‘worried’ is the right term to use for the Twitter users who went wild after the first reports of 50’s filing surfaced… Here are just some of the gags: