50 Cent mentioned he had to come as a “surprise” instead of being listed on the lineup alongside Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, and Snoop Dogg.
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Eminem reportedly threatened to withdraw from the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show if 50 Cent wasn’t included in the performance, as stated by the G-Unit rapper. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, 50 Cent revealed that Roc Nation opposed his involvement in the star-studded event.
“They wanted to leave me out of it,” he noted. “They didn’t want me there.”
Roc Nation produces the Super Bowl Halftime Show in collaboration with the NFL. Jay-Z’s company arranged for Dr. Dre, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, and Snoop Dogg to perform at the Super Bowl in California in 2022. 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak also performed, but the two weren’t announced before the event.
“Eminem wouldn’t do it without me,” 50 Cent said. “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. I’m the surprise. I’m not on the bill at all. But they couldn’t get Em to do it without me.”
50 Cent won an Emmy for his role in the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show. Despite the win, his frustrations with the Television Academy remain as they have never nominated his show Power or any of its spinoffs for awards.
“It does not make sense,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “The easiest way to point it out to the public is the actual facts. When the show is clearly No. 1 in African American households, if you don’t want to acknowledge it, you don’t want to acknowledge African Americans and Latinos. It’s a choice. I don’t know if it’s OK, but it’s a choice.”
50 Cent is getting ready to host the inaugural Humor & Harmony festival in Shreveport, Louisiana from August 8-11. Shreveport is now the location of G-Unit Studios.
