Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson signed the lease of Millennium Studios("Studios") in December 2023 with an effective date of January 1, 2024..
Erin McCarty of KEEL Radio published a story on June 15, 2023, titled "Will Flood Damage At Shreveport Facility Impact 50 Cent Deal?"
McCarty stated the flooding occurred on June 3. Mayor Arceneaux said this was the first flooding of the Studios. He advised five inches of rain fell in a two hour timespan. The mayor stated that Jackson had been informed of the flooding and steps that could be taken to prevent future flooding.
The extent of the damage to the building infrastructure--carpet, drywall, electrical outlets, etc.--has not been disclosed by the Arceneaux administration or Jackson. And it is not known if any insurance on the building provided any coverage for the flood damage. It is known that the drywall has been removed from the bottom 2-3 feet of the interior walls.
Based upon the comments of Chief Administrative Officer(CAO) Tom Dark and council James Green at the Sept. 23, 2025, council meeting, the current condition of the Studios is not compatible with film production, much less storage of movie equipment. The cost to repair the flood damage has not been publicly released.
At the council meeting Dark advised that a solution to the flooding problem had not been formulated by the city's engineering department. Dark commented that the Studios are in a "bowl" that causes the collection of excessive rainfall.
There are still questions that should be answered on the flooding of the Studios and the adjacent warehouse that include the following:
1. Has flooding occurred in the Studios and/or warehouse between June 3, 2023, and the Studio lease execution in December 2023, and if so, was this reported to Jackson?
2. Has flooding occurred in the Studios and/or the warehouse since the lease execution?
3. What steps has the City taken since the June 2023 flooding to mitigate the flooding problem?
4. Did the City make an insurance claim on the damage from the June 2023 flooding and/or any subsequent flooding, and if so how was the claim resolved? If no claim was made, why was a claim not filed?
5. Has Jackson maintained insurance on the building continuously since execution of the Studio and has Jackson made any claim(s) for flood damage, and if so, what was the resolution of any claim(s)?
6. Why has the Administration and/or Jackson not previously disclosed the flooding issue as the reason(s) for no film production by Jackson since the lease execution?
To say the least, the lack of public disclosure of the flooding issue since the June 2023 KEEL news report is troubling. This failure is exacerbated by the trumpeting of the great economic benefit the City will receive from the newly created downtown economic district that has been tailored to incentivize substantial investment by 50 Cent.
Certainly, there is more to the story, so stay tuned.