Speaking to The Breakfast Club on Tuesday morning (Nov. 17), 50 Cent claimed that President Trump’s team offered him $1 million to appear at the former reality show star’s 2016 inauguration.
“I come to ya’ll to talk about [them] offering me a million dollars to go to Trump’s inauguration,” 50 said, reviving a story he first told more than a year ago on The Late Late Show, during which he claimed the number was closer to $500,000.
“I passed on the mills,” 50 said, before clarifying that the number quickly doubled for the inauguration that was famously short on A-list talent. “$500,000 and it went up to a million while I was still confused with whether I should do it.”
When co-host Charlamagne Tha God asked why the rapper/entrepreneur was conflicted about the generous offer, Fiddy said it was for the same reason he flinched when he saw Trump posing with rappers such as Lil Wayne and Lil Pump — who Trump referred to from stage as “Lil Pimp” — just before the Nov. 3 election.
“[He did it] for the Black vote,” 50 said of Trump’s brazen attempt to lure Black voters in the waning days of his failed re-election bid by cozying up to hip-hop acts. “I’m going, ‘nah, I ain’t gonna put myself in that position,’” the rapper recalls thinking. “Because I didn’t know what I’d have to do to recover from it. To be honest with you. I’m looking going, ‘nah, I’ll pass, I’m cool.’”
50 then explained why he momentarily said he would support Trump — only to reverse himself a short time later — when he thought that President-elect Joe Biden’s tax plan would have a devastating effect on his wealth. “We missed that part, they never talked about that part in the debates,” he said, referring to Biden’s plan to increase the marginal tax rate for every dollar earned above $400,000 in a reversal of Trump’s 2017 deficit-ballooning tax cut benefitting mostly the wealthy and large corporations.
Also, 50 claimed that he’s “sure” Weezy got paid for his Trump photo-op. “I’m sure, easily he got paid,” assuring Charlamagne — who initially slammed 50 for his Trump support — that he didn’t get get a check to post his red flag comments about Biden’s tax plan.
Watch 50’s interview below.
Billboard has reached out to the White House for comment.