50 Cent has doubled down on his claim that JAY-Z tried to prevent him from performing at the Super Bowl in 2022, even offering up a reason behind the alleged impedement.
The G-Unit boss came out as a surprise guest to perform “In Da Club” during Dr. Dre‘s star-studded halftime show in Los Angeles, which also featured Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and Mary J. Blige.
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According to 50, he almost wasn’t a part of the historic spectacle due to his former rival Hov — who has helped organize the Super Bowl halftime show since he partnered with the NFL in 2019 — pulling strings behind the scenes.
Sitting down for an interview with Cam’ron for his new show Talk With Flee, the Power mogul theorized that it was all down to competition — and not just in music.
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Asked about the success of his Sire Spirits liquor company, which has deals with 11 major league sports teams, 50 explained: “My partnerships are with the owners direct […] I think when you have everything, the ‘cool’ is the object. It’s to figure out what’s really cool.
“And then when the really rich guys, the owners, keep seeing you around other guys that are their equivalent, they look and go, ‘Bring me that, that’s cool.’ So they want to be around me too and it starts to open up.”
He then turned his attention to JAY-Z and the NFL: “This is why I was saying I knew what old boy was doing with the Super Bowl. Because he was doing some slick shit. He was doing some wild shit, Cam.
“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? But they have an issue with my actual performance? It makes no sense.'”
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Cam then asked 50 why he thinks Jay didn’t want him to perform at the Super Bowl, posing the question: “Was he threatened?”
“Not even threatened,” Fif replied. “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.
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“Right now, he’s not even competing for a slot. 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?”
50 Cent previously credited longtime friend and collaborator Eminem with securing his spot at the Super Bowl, revealing the Detroit rap legend threatened to boycott the halftime show if 50 wasn’t involved.
“[Roc Nation] wanted to leave me out of it. They didn’t want me there,” he told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this year. “[But] 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.
“When that happens, you go, ‘Damn, so you just lost Eminem because you didn’t bring 50? Damn. All right. Bring 50 then.’ But if it was up to them, they would not have me there.”
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He added: “I’m the surprise. I’m not on the bill at all. But they couldn’t get Em to do it without me.”
