50 cents says his infamous inverted performance at the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show almost didn’t happen.
That’s what the rapper claims Jay Z‘s Roc Nation — who has helped the NFL produce its halftime show since 2020 — tried to block his surprise appearance alongside hip-hop veterans Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Dr. Dre And Kendrick Lamar.
“They wanted to leave me out. They didn’t want me there,” 50 Cent said The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published on Wednesday, July 31. (We weekly has contacted Roc Nation for comment.)
The “In Da Club” rapper clarified that by “they” he meant Roc Nation and said he only got involved because his mentor Eminem intervened.
Over the years, halftime show viewers have witnessed Super Bowl moments that were memorable for a variety of reasons. In 2004, Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake delivered a controversial performance that is still a topic of conversation. Jackson joined Timberlake as a surprise guest at the time and a wardrobe malfunction ended […]
“Yeah, they didn’t want me there,” 50 Cent said. ‘Eminem wouldn’t do it without me. That’s how I ended up on the show, because it wouldn’t come on if I didn’t do it. When that happens you’re like, ‘Damn, so you lost Eminem because you didn’t bring a 50? Damn. Okay. Then bring 50.’”
“But if it were up to them, they wouldn’t want me there. I am the surprise. I’m not on the bill at all. But they couldn’t let Em do it without me,” he added.
Jay Z
Karwai Tang/WireImage50 cents and Anderson.Paak made surprise appearances during the Super Bowl LVI halftime show, which took place on February 13, 2022 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. Eminem, Dre, Blige, Snoop and Kendrick were announced to headline the show, marking the first time hip-hop music took center stage during the halftime performance.
50 Cent famously performed “In Da Club” while hanging upside down, which he later admitted was a “mistake.”
“I think that was a mistake,” the 49-year-old rapper said USA today in an interview in May 2023. “Everyone came in regularly, the songs still went on and they also got the trophy. They’ve all won an Emmy. They got the same as me and I had to turn myself upside down.”
50 Cent appears on the cover of the latest issue of The Hollywood Reporterand the outlet noted that he brought $3.5 million of his own money to the photo shoot.
The outlet said the rapper brought the money in “two heavy black suitcases,” part of which was propped up on a stool he sat on while smoking a cigar.
In between posing for photos, the rapper (real name Curtis Jackson III) dug through the cash and placed a few more stacks on the table next to him. He arrived with four guards and the doors were locked with the window curtains drawn.