Photo: Instagram
As an executive producer of "Power", he's basically her boss.
By Rebekah Kuschmider — Written on Nov 18, 2019
Editor's note: This article originally published on November 17, and has been updated to include 50 Cent's response on Twitter to the question of whether his Instagram account was suspended or if he disabled it himself.
On October 30, Naturi Naughton and rapper 50 Cent visited Capitol Hill to talk about diversity in the entertainment industry.
After Naughton posted photos of herself with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on her Instagram the next day, 50 Cent took it as an opportunity to mock of his "Power" co-star, creating and posting a meme comparing his "Power" co-star to Goro, an iconic character from the video game Mortal Kombat.
Naughton got upset, as anyone would when a friend and colleague disses their looks. But while at first, Fif seemed to feel some remorse and apologized to her, just one week later, he bullied her again with a meme on Twitter.
Fans are mad at him for being mean to someone who doesn't deserve it and Naughton herself is tired of dealing with the cracks.
Who is Naturi Naughton, and why was 50 Cent's Instagram account suspended?
Read on for seven key details about the meme-driven feud between Naturi Naughton and 50 Cent.
1. Who is Naturi Naughton?
Naughton has been starring on the Starz series "Power" for six seasons, playing Tasha St. Patrick, wife of Ghost, the nightclub owner trying to escape his past life as a drug kingpin, since 2014.
She is equally well known as a singer, having been a member of the Platinum-selling girl group 3LW, and spent time on Broadway in the Tony award-winning musical Hairspray.
Her breakout film role came in 2009, when she was tapped to play Lil' Kim in Notorious, opposite Jamal Woolard as the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls.
2. 50 Cent is not only a fellow actor on "Power" — he's also an executive producer
Last October, The Hollywood Reporter announced a major 4-year deal signed by Starz CEO and president Chris Albrecht and 50 Cent's production company G-Unit Film and Television.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, "It includes a commitment to three series produced by the company; a dedicated development executive and discretionary fund for use in developing G-Unit projects; access to additional distribution channels via Starz and parent company Lionsgate; and input on merchandising and licensing of G-Unit-developed content and brands."
But even as someone with a vested interest in the success of the series — and notably, someone in a position of power over Naughton — he can't seem to help himself when it comes to trolling.
3. 50 Cent first posted the meme mocking Naughton on Instagram
Just over a week ago, 50 Cent jumped on Instagram to post a meme showing Naughton with her hair pulled back in a high half-ponytail, adding the caption, "Ghost must’ve pushed Naturi’s hairline back in that scene," referring to a moment from the show when Ghost, played by Omari Harwick, and Naughton's character were having a fight and he pushed her forehead.
The photo 50 Cent was mocking was taken on Capitol Hill, where he and Naughton had met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers to discuss the value of diversity in the entertainment industry.
On Wednesday, November 13, his Instagram was disabled.
4. Fif then apologized publicly for hurting Naughton's feelings
Naturi wasn't having it. In a since-expired Instagram story, she told 50 Cent that making fun of someone's appearance is not cool.
"Ummm…mean much @50cent,” she wrote. “Don’t I make you look good every Sunday night? But cool…”
For a minute, it even seemed like she had gotten through to her executive producer, as he responded by saying, "yes you do a great job on the show @naturi4real. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings.”
Naughton seemed ready to put it behind her and keep working to bring "Power" in for a strong finale for the series.
She even told Page Six she was ready to move on.
“He knew what he did was shady and apologized for it. He realized it wasn’t the nicest thing to do. I accepted his apology, I’ve moved on. He’s an EP on the show, I’m a star on the show, I can’t be worried about something like that. He believes in the work that I do on Power, so it was just a matter of making sure that that comes across. I think he gets it, we’re cool. I’ll see him at work within the next couple of days. I don’t hold grudges, it’s water under the bridge.”
5. But even after apologizing, he posted another mean meme to Twitter
Maybe he was confused about whether what he was doing was really shady because one week later — and after his Instagram account was deactivated — he was back at it on Twitter.
The since-deleted tweet featured the meme comparing Naughton's hairstyle to that of Mortal Kombat's Goro.
Fans were not pleased.
One Twitter user asked, "50 why u doing this to her? She probably aint cool with it."
Another wrote, "The first time he could say he thought it was all in fun. This time he KNOWS he is hurting her feelings."
Naughton jumped in and called 50 out as well, asking if the two had a fight didn't know about, then sharing a screenshot of his tweet and her reply on Instagram.
6. This was far from Fifty's first trolling spree
According to Blavity, "The day before his account was disabled, 50 targeted his trolling behavior toward fellow rapper Nelly and his longtime girlfriend, Shantel Jackson ... Other targets of 50’s Instagram tirades this year have included Tank, Kanye West, and T.I."
7. In response to the rumors, 50 Cent confirmed that he disabled his own Insta account
The rapper seems to have noticed the rumor mill churning, and took to his Twiiter on Sunday to set the record straight regarding whether his account was suspended by Instagram for violating community standards or if he chose to deactivate the account himself.
"LOL Im cool with all these false report, if you don’t know why something happens... you can’t just make some shit up smh I turned my own IG page off SUCKERS"
Rebekah Kuschmider has been writing about celebrities, pop culture, entertainment, and politics since 2010. Her work has been seen at Ravishly, Babble, Scary Mommy, The Mid, Redbook online, and The Broad Side. She is the creator of the blog Stay at Home Pundit and she is a cohost of the weekly podcast The More Perfect Union.