50 Cent sat down with Hip-Hop’s favorite anchor Ari Melber of MSNBC’s The Beat for an interview last week. During the conversation, they discussed 50 Cent’s new television deal with FOX, the 20th anniversary of Get Rich or Die Tryin and why the word “mogul” bothers him.
But the problem? 50 Cent is only the second “most watched” interview on The Beat. In 2018, 50 Cent’s appearance on the show drew in more than 4.4 million viewers, while former Kremlin official Andrew Kozyrev’s segment clocked in at 5.5 million. Before Melber could say “Go shorty,” Kozyrev and 50 Cent started lightweight beefing on social media.
Right before 50 Cent’s segment aired, the reluctant television mogul posted the statistics on Instagram. He wrote in the caption. “Who is this guy that beat me. There is no way he’s cooler than me. Tune in to MSNBC at 6:30pm.”
Shockingly, 50 Cent got a response from Kozyrev via Twitter which read, “Today many people ask me who’s @50Cent?” with a laughing emoji at the end. 50 Cent re-posted Kozyrev’s tweet and added in the caption: “@andreivkozyrev How are you feeling. I’m happy your still alive, Putin didn’t like that s### you said be careful now!”
Melber then hopped in the comment section and wrote, “Truly never thought I’d see 50 and this former Kremlin official trading barbs about their viral Beat interviews. Really tho.”
The back-and-forth was short-lived though. By Tuesday morning (February 21), all jokes were set aside. 50 Cent screenshot another tweet from Kozyrev that read: “@50Cent, thank you sir! Your support would also mean a lot for Ukraine. And by the way, my son is a big fan of yours.”
50 Cent added in the caption, “Nothing but positive energy over here, Tell your son i said what’s up. I’m wishing you and yours the best God bless.”
“It’s been surreal to watch 50 Cent and Kozyrev trade barbs over Beat interviews in their digital ‘cold war’—and great that they swiftly reached a truce,” Melber tells AllHipHop. “Plus we all know: It’s easy to see, if you look closely, 50 don’t back down, so this is a good outcome! [laughs].”
50 Cent and Melber’s interview outperformed sit-downs with Robert De Niro and Bill Gates. At one point, they touched on the FOX deal, and 50 Cent was quick to agree he’s been undervalued his whole career.
“They’re gonna always undervalue what you’re doing,” he said. “There’s never the look at it and—I think, well, look, if they were overvaluing what you was doing, you’d have a really good lifeguard. But, you know, I think I always look at things in and I mean on the outside judging things as you go—as you go If you’re doing things that people haven’t done before.
“No one is as successful career producing television from music. So, this is the first. All of the things you’re saying, we’ve had huge success with Will Smith, with Mark Wahlberg, with LL COOL J, with Ice Cube. With, you know, a lot of people who started out as musical talents that turned into big stars like Queen Latifah. It’s a lot of them but in film, not in television. So, they’re seeing it for the first time now.”
FOX will own any series developed under the new deal and produce the shows with 50 Cent’s G-Unit Film & Television. As 50 Cent noted in the press release, he believes the network is “a perfect broadcast destination” for his company.
“Whether it’s music, film or television, [50 Cent] always delivers premium entertainment that captivates millions of fans across the globe,” FOX’s president of scripted programming Michael Thorn said. “He is the rare multi-hyphenate with a deft hand at storytelling, no matter the format or medium, and we’re looking forward to developing new and exciting series for FOX with him and his team.”