50 Cent celebrated his 49th birthday with a cover shoot for The Hollywood Reporter on July 9 at Pier 59 Studios in NYC. The rap mogul and television producer brought $3.5 million in cash with him to the photo shoot.
According to THR, most of the cash was stuffed into two heavy black suitcases. Stacks of money were assembled into a square stool that he sat on while smoking a cigar.
Every now and then, as he poses for photos, he digs into the stash and adds a few more stacks to the table beside him — as those on set watch in awe, including the four security guards Jackson arrived with. The doors are locked shut, and the window shades are closed for maximum privacy.
Asked whether he withdrew the money from a bank, Fiddy says: “I just had that. I got more than that.”
“I was inspired [to bring it] by [Muhammad] Ali,” he said, referring to Ali’s 1964 Sports Illustrated cover. Ali, then 22, posed with $1 million in a bank vault on the cover.
“I was like, ‘I want to do a shoot like that,’” 50 Cent added.
50 Cent discussed his longstanding beef with disgraced music producer Sean Combs in the THR cover story.
Fiddy is producing a documentary about Sean Combs’ legal troubles.
“I’ve been very vocal about not going to Puffy parties and doing shit like that. I’ve been staying out of that shit for years,” he said, referring to Combs’ infamous white parties and freak offs at his homes.
“It’s just an uncomfortable energy connected to it. First, he denied that it even happened, and then the [Cassie] tape comes out — so that means everything that n—a says is a lie,” he said. “When someone watches that, if they have a daughter and they can imagine her being under those circumstances, that shit is crazy. Like, they let him get away with it. With all the influence and power you have, the person you’re with is supposed to want to be a part of your life, not be forced.”
THR: What made you want to produce a docuseries on Diddy?
50 Cent: I’m the only one from hip-hop culture that’s produced quality projects. We do have a lot of talent within our culture where the talent has developed a comfortability in front of the camera, so they’re usually a part of it as an actor or driving force of why someone would watch the project; not the behind-the-scenes production, producing the whole project, so there’s a difference.
Over the years, you’ve made a point of not attending Diddy’s parties — was that because somebody told you the energy there was off? Or did you go to something that felt odd?
He asked to take me shopping. I thought that was the weirdest shit in the world because that might be something that a man says to a woman. And I’m just like, “Naw, I’m not fucking with this weird energy or weird shit,” coming off the way he was just moving. From that, I wasn’t comfortable around him.
