50 Cent reiterates his claims that Jay-Z tried to prevent him from performing at the Super Bowl in 2022, and he has a theory of why.
Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson performed as a surprise guest during Dr. Dre’s Super Bowl Halftime Show in Los Angeles in 2022, which also featured Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, and Mary J. Blige. But 50’s spot almost didn’t happen, he says, thanks to his former rival, Jay-Z, who has helped organize the Super Bowl Halftime Show with Roc Nation since partnering with the NFL in 2019.
In an interview with Cam’ron on his new show “Talk With Flee,” 50 Cent theorized why Jay-Z wouldn’t want him to perform, claiming it all comes down to competition. The rapper said it was because of Eminem that he even got to perform.
“He was saying to Eminem that the NFL had the issue with me. And I’m like, ‘Well, what’s the issue?’ Why don’t they have an issue when I’m becoming a partner with the actual teams?” he said, referring to his Sire Spirits liquor company, with which he has deals with 11 major league sports teams.
“I think it’s just, our culture’s competitive, but I think when it goes past the music itself to blocking things in business, then I don’t understand that,” he explained. “Right now, he’s not even competing for a sot. He doesn’t have a new song out that he wants to be top 10 and he’s still competing. It don’t make sense. What are we competing for? What’s the goal?”
The rapper also reiterated his earlier claim that Eminem, his longtime friend and collaborator, had threatened to boycott the halftime show if 50 Cent wasn’t involved.
“[Roc Nation] wanted to leave me out of it. They didn’t want me there,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “Eminem wouldn’t do it without me. That’s how I ended up on the show, because he was not coming if I didn’t do it.”