Madonna and 50 Cent’s feud has lasted more than a decade
(Picture: Getty Images)I think we can all agree that Madonna’s Instagram and TikTok presence is a little... unhinged. Her mad energy is not unlike that of Britney’s Instagram, except if you replaced smudged eyeliner, denim micro shorts, and cowboy boots with plaits, bleached brows, and Balenciaga.
As a result, Madonna has attracted a hefty amount of criticism recently, most notably from rapper 50 Cent, who seems to be on his own personal crusade against Madonna’s social-media presence.
But it hasn’t always been like this. 50 Cent and Madonna actually used to be friends, which is what makes this whole feud a lot weirder.
Let’s run through how 50 Cent and Madonna went from friends to enemies, all with the help of a few Instagram posts.
Back in the 2000s, 50 Cent and Madonna were actually mates, and even shared a record label. Pictures from the time show 50 Cent and Madonna hugging, and interviews with the rapper see him bigging her up while she was at the height of her fame.
Then, in 2011, there was a dispute over 50 Cent, real name Curtis James Jackson III, releasing music at the same time as Madonna despite them being on the same label.
The label, Interscope, released album artwork for a Madonna single ahead of time, prompting 50 Cent to tweet: “Man, interscope put out the single art saying its coming out on [December 31] but its not coming out. I'm not putting my album out till we are all on the same page [...] This is nuts to me. I try to do everything I can to keep my cool you know what? If they don't care I don't care I'm putting out a video now.”
Then, to make matters worse, the rapper discovered that the Madonna single had the same name as one of the songs on his album, Girls Gone Wild. “These people are gonna make me kill one of them,” 50 Cent wrote. “Now Madonna's single is called Girls Gone Wild. This is some bull s***.”
The record-label drama clearly established some bad blood between the rapper and singer, even if it was rather one-sided. Then, in 2019, it came spilling out all over again when 50 Cent shared an image of Madonna at a gig in the LGBT Stonewall Inn bar, in New York City, with her son.
The rapper shared an image of Madonna on stage with the caption: “Hahhahaha Madonna got her ass done. Lol what the f*** is goin on.”
Madonna later hit back on Twitter, in classic Madonna online speak: “Desperately Seeking No Ones Approval................... And Entitled to Free Agency Over My Body Like Everyone Else!! Thank you 2019! Its Going to Be an amazing Year!! #2019 #freedom #respect #nofear #nodiscrimination.”
Two years later, in 2021, the rapper came for Madonna again when she shared a series of revealing pictures of her posing on a bed, one of which featured her bare nipple and was taken down by Instagram as a result. (She has since reposted with the nipple censored.)
“Yo this is the funniest s***! LOL,” 50 Cent wrote when resharing the images, “That's Madonna under the bed trying to do like a virgin at 63. She shot out, if she don't get her old ass up. LMFAO.” The rapper even shared a photoshopped version of the image of Madonna posing under the bed to look like the wicked witch when she’s crushed by the house in The Wizard of Oz. Savage.
Madonna hit back this time, sharing the aformentioned picture of the two together in 2003 to her Instagram story with the caption: “Here is 50 Cent pretending to be my friend. Now you have decided to talk smack about me! [...] I guess your new career is getting attention by trying to humiliate others on social media. The least elevated choice [you] could make as [an] artist and an adult. [You're] just jealous you won't look as good as me or have as much fun when you are my age!”
This led the 47-year-old rapper to finally apologise, tweeting: “I must have hurt Madonna feelings, she went and dug up a old MTV photo from 03 [...] Ok I’m sorry I did not intend to hurt your feelings. I don't benefit from this in anyway I said what I thought when I saw the picture because of where I had seen it before I hope you accept my apology.”
Madonna then came back again (it’s like tennis at this point) in a strange Instagram live where she was wearing a Disney-eque eye filter the entire time. The Lucky Star singer said: “Ok, so this is a message for 50 Cent. I want to respond to your response to my response to your post, which was essentially you were trying to shame me. You were trying to humiliate me.
“Yeah, your apology is fake, it's bulls*** and it's not valid. Let me just hit those four or five points about your apology being invalid. Number one, it's not hard to find footage of you and me hanging out [...] An apology is not valid if you don't know what you're apologizing for. What you should be apologizing for is your misogynistic, sexist, ageist behavior and remarks.”
You would think he’d have learned, but 50 Cent hit out at Madonna once again this week, after she posted a TikTok of her rapping to Kendrick Lamar. The In Da Club rapper shared an article claiming that Madonna was using rap “for clout”, with the caption: “Told y'all grand ma was on b#######! Like a virgin at 64. LOL.”
Just today (November 11), Madonna levelled up her strange social-media content by posting a slideshow video which features her simulating drinking out of a dog bowl, though 50 Cent has yet to respond to this. But honestly, at this point, it’s just a matter of time.
