50 Cent has taken it upon himself to make things right, financially, for Terrence Howard, after the acclaimed actor made headlines for revealing his pittance of a salary for the Oscar-winning film, Hustle & Flow.
Back in November, Howard claimed he’d been paid a meager $12,000 for the role, for which he was nominated for Best Actor at the 78th Academy Awards and also rapped on the soundtrack.
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Howard also revealed that he’d not received royalties from the songs he’d sung. “What Paramount did, instead of putting my name as ‘Terrence Howard’ performing the songs, they put ‘performed by Djay.’ Well, they owned Djay,” he said to WREG News Channel 3, referring to his character in the film.
“So now I’ve gotta sue Paramount or send them a letter to say, ‘Hey, you guys owe me about 20 years’ worth of residuals and performance royalties.'”
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50 Cent, however, caught wind of Howard’s interview, and took to X/ Twitter, on Thursday (February 15), to vow to make things right.
“This shit hurt my stomach to hear @terrencehoward say this. Fvck em [raised eyebrow emoji],” the G-Unit head honcho said. “I need the best actors and I’m gonna pay them. @tarajiphenson you cool with @maryjblige ask her, she got a BIG FVCKIN BAG. GLG GREENLIGHTGANG My young boy’s @michaelraineyjr, @mekaicurtis, @LilMeechBMF are all making millions.”
Check out the tweet below:
This isn’t the first time that 50 Cent has gone to bat for Terrence Howard in his ongoing quest to get the money he’s owed.
Late last year, Howard sued CAA (Creative Arts Agency), claiming it prioritized its own interests as well as the Fox network and the show’s producers above his own.
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The actor and his attorney blamed the issue on a practice known as “packaging” where an agency gets paid by the studio for attaching talent to a project.
At a press conference, Howard’s lawyer James Bryant said: “Over the last several years, agencies have become much more powerful and found a much more lucrative way of making money. It’s by being the packaging agent, where you represent actors, producers, production companies and your own financial interest.”
He continued: “That’s where that fiduciary duty begins to break down. That’s why we’re here today.”
50 Cent, who has signed a production deal with Fox, commented on the lawsuit on social media on January 4, offering to use his influence in the industry to help Howard.
“Damn @theterrencehoward call my phone I will get you the money they was supposed to get for you,” he wrote on Instagram. “Im not playing no games over here.”
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The two worked together in 2005 on 50’s acting debut, the semi-autobiographical Get Rich or Die Tryin’, named after the rapper’s blockbuster debut album.
Terrence Howard has claimed he was being paid $325,000 per episode at Empire’s peak, but said “racism” was the reason he was being paid less than other leading men such as Jon Hamm and Kevin Spacey, who each bagged around $500,000 an episode for their shows Mad Men and House of Cards respectively.
