A word of advice to members of Congress: If you’ve recently been embroiled in scandal, maybe don’t ask for photos with celebrities when they visit Capitol Hill.
That was a lesson Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado learned on Wednesday evening after she posed for a photo earlier in the day — at her request — with Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson, the Grammy-winning rapper and producer. Jackson was on Capitol Hill along with civil rights attorney Ben Crump to meet with members of the Congressional Black Caucus about Black representation in the liquor industry (Jackson is the owner of Sire Spirits, which sells cognacs).
Boebert, who quoted 50 Cent’s 2003 hit Would You Still Love Me, shared the snap with Jackson on social media after his visit.
“I’d still love you if you flipped burgers at Burger King @50Cent, I used to do that myself! Thanks for the photo, great to meet you!” she wrote in the caption on X, formerly Twitter.
I’d still love you if you flipped burgers at Burger King @50Cent, I used to do that myself!
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) June 5, 2024
Thanks for the photo, great to meet you! pic.twitter.com/9TDsljs9WT
But the photo really blew up when 50 Cent shared it in a social media post that almost immediately went viral thanks to his flirty caption about the far-right House Republican.
“Lauren Boebert, Colorado Republican making the white house look good,” he wrote, adding a sly-looking emoji at the end. The post received 53,000 likes and more than 4m impressions overall. The congresswoman was among those who retweeted Jackson’s post.
Lauren Boebert, Colorado Republican making the white house look good. 😏 pic.twitter.com/GJnb9UnLbE
— 50cent (@50cent) June 5, 2024
The rapper then responded to the buzz in a bizarre post assuring the public that he does not, in fact, “have chlamydia.”
Wait, wait, guys i took pictures with everyone and all you seem to care about is Lauren 🤷🏽♂️what did she do in a dark theater that hasn’t been done, my God ! Hey I don’t have chlamydia by the way. LOL pic.twitter.com/DxBJvqSkuJ
— 50cent (@50cent) June 6, 2024
“Wait, wait, guys i took pictures with everyone and all you seem to care about is Lauren 🤷🏽♂️what did she do in a dark theater that hasn’t been done, my God ! Hey I don’t have chlamydia by the way. LOL.”
His post referenced Boebert’s embarassing removal from a live-action performance of Beetlejuice after she was seen on security footage allegedly groping her date. The congresswoman was also accused by theater owners of vaping in the theater and being disruptive.
Within a few hours of 50’s post going up, it had received nearly 15,000 likes.
Wait, wait, guys i took pictures with everyone and all you seem to care about is Lauren 🤷🏽♂️what did she do in a dark theater that hasn’t been done, my God ! Hey I don’t have chlamydia by the way. LOL pic.twitter.com/DxBJvqSkuJ
— 50cent (@50cent) June 6, 2024
What remains unclear is how Jackson really feels about Boebert (though his meetings on Wednesday were with Democrats). Boebert faces a primary election in a new district in just two weeks. Having fled her old district, where she won re-election by just a few hundred votes in 2022, the congresswoman is now running in a staunchly conservative district — where she is now facing several Republicans who will seek to oust her from the House.
