Rapper 50 Cent appeared to criticise fellow artist Jay Z’s decision to attend the premiere of Disney’s Mustafa: The Lion King just hours after the Brooklyn-born mogul was accused of raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000.
Jay Z, 55, whose real name is Shawn Carter, has strongly denied the allegations, dismissing them as “blackmail” and “idiotic.”
On Monday evening (9 December), Mr Carter was photographed on the red carpet at the premiere alongside his wife, Beyoncé, and their daughter, Blue Ivy Carter. Both Beyoncé and Blue Ivy provide voice roles in the film.
In a since-deleted Instagram post, 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson III, shared a photo of Jay Z and his family at the premiere, writing: “Jay said they said I rapped a kid, everybody get dressed we going to see Mustafa. LOL. [sic]”
Separately, the rapper posted on X (formerly Twitter), where the comment remained live at the time of writing: “OK I don’t know what’s going on, but are we gonna still have the Super Bowl. I’m just asking for a friend [sic].”
The latter remark appears to allude to Mr Carter’s role as the producer of the annual Super Bowl halftime show, set to feature Kendrick Lamar as the headline act in 2025.
In an amended legal filing to federal court on Sunday (8 December), accuser “Jane Doe” claimed that Mr Carter raped her at an MTV Video Music Awards afterparty in 2000, along with rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Mr Carter issued a strongly worded denial of the allegations on Monday. Mr Combs, who is currently in jail after being charged with sex trafficking and racketeering, was initially the only person accused in the original lawsuit. He has denied all allegations against him.
Mr Carter’s lawyers have accused attorney Tony Buzbee, who filed the suit, of initially threatening to “immediately file” a “public lawsuit” against him unless he agreed to resolve the allegations through mediation for a financial payout.
His lawyers instead sued Mr Buzbee, citing Mr Carter as a celebrity John Doe, accusing him of trying to “extort exorbitant sums” from him through false assault allegations, US media reports.
Mr Carter's attorney Alex Spiro described the case as “a shakedown. [Carter] is not mentioned, referenced, or implicated in any way in the criminal investigation of Mr Combs. He is neither a target nor a person of interest in that investigation.”
In a statement to Time, Mr Buzbee said the suggestion he was attempting to blackmail Mr Carter was “stupid and laughable” and that he had simply been seeking confidential mediation.
“What he fails to say in his recent statement is that my firm sent his lawyer a basic demand letter on behalf of an alleged victim and that victim never demanded a penny from him,” he said.
“Since I sent the letter on her behalf, Mr. Carter has not only sued me, but he has tried to bully and harass me and this plaintiff. His conduct has had the opposite impact. She is emboldened. I’m very proud of her resolve.”
