50 Cent Denies Involvement In New York House Fire

Rapper 50 Cent has denied setting fire to his New York home, after his ex-lover suggested he may have been involved.

The Long Island estate - owned by 50 Cent and occupied by his former lover Shaniqua Tompkins and their 10-year-old son Marquise - was set ablaze in what New York cops have called a "highly suspicious" inferno that raged at 5am on Friday.

The home has been at the centre of a bitter dispute between the hip-hop star - real name Curtis Jackson - and Tompkins since last month's ruling she and Marquise must leave the rapper's mansion by the end of 2008.

Tompkins told reporters on Friday, "He's upset. If he can't have it, no one can. He threatened me."

But 50 Cent - who was shooting a movie in Louisiana when the blaze took place - insists he had nothing to do with it.

His lawyer Brett Kimmel tells TMZ.com, "Any suggestion that Mr. Jackson had anything whatsoever to do with the fire at his home is outrageous and offensive."