Taraji P. Henson, 50 Cent feud on Twitter over competing shows
50 Cent and Taraji P. Henson exchanged heated words on Twitter over the weekend about their competing shows. Credit: Getty Images / Jason Merritt
Taraji P. Henson, star of Fox’s “Empire,” and 50 Cent, star and executive producer of Starz’s “Power,” spent part of the weekend in a seeming social-media feud coinciding with the latter show’s season finale Sunday night.
E! News said that on Saturday, 50 Cent, 41, posted a since-deleted image of Henson with a headline saying her show’s ratings were down. “Well look at the bright side at least. You can eat your trophies,” the rapper captioned it, evidently referring to accolades Taraji has received for her work as the formidable Cookie Lyon on the show. He added, “SMH you know I love you cookie. I got a new show for you BMF COMING SOON,” using the abbreviation for “Black Mafia Family.”
Henson, 46, soon responded, posting graphical text from an article that ran Thursday on the TV-ratings website TVByTheNumbers.com: “ ‘Empire’ remains the No. 1 scripted show on broadcast TV after premiering to a 4.1 rating in adults 18-49 Wednesday. It continues a trend of veteran shows opening well below their premieres last season (a 6.7, in this case) but in line with where they ended (it’s even with the finale).”
She commented, “For the confused ppl. Do REAL research!!! Loose change makes sooooooo much UNNECESSARY NOISE. STILL LOOKING FOR THAT DAMN CENT SIGN!!!😒 I guess it’s obsolete 😔. AGAIN CONGRATS ON YOUR SUCCESS BLACK MAN!!!”
50 Cent, in another since-deleted post, then wrote, “All this back and forth [expletive] is starting to turning me on cookie, LMAO I ran into Lee Daniels at the gym on Sunset Blvd. he asked why I didn’t except his offer to be on EMPIRE. I told him I have a lot going on, I’m actually working on the show FOX is gonna replace EMPIRE with, he looked at me like…why ... are you doing that? It’s because I’m a drug dealer, and I was taught to get in, get your weight up, then take over. So that’s the deal.”
Ignoring the braggadocio, Henson instead offered supportive words to “Power” star Naturi Naughton, running a photo of her with a “Power” logo and airtime and writing, “Sooooooooo proud of you @naturi4real I WANT YOU TO KNOW I will NEVER let any NEGATIVITY come between the LOVE I have for my sisters!!! As women we put up with enough BS. I will NEVER add to that stress and heartache!!! YOU ARE DOPE on #Power and in life!!! #BlackGirlMagic SHINE BABY SHINE.”
