Naturi Naughton is not hearing what 50 Cent is trying to say about Omari Hardwick.
In case you missed it, 50 Cent and Omari Hardwick, once close collaborators on the STARZ series Power, appear to be at odds over Hardwick’s recent remarks regarding his compensation for the show.
In an interview with The Breakfast Club, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson expressed frustration, saying he believes Hardwick “overvalues” himself, especially since the actor hasn’t been part of any notable projects since Power concluded in 2020.
“I think he overvalues himself,” 50 Cent told the show hosts. “Because… it’s been a long time since he’s been in Power, why are we not excited about the new projects?”
Charlamagne Tha God, seeming puzzled, asked, “What new projects? I didn’t know…”
“See, that’s what I’m talking about,” 50 replied. “If there was noise going on, if he was that big of a draw, then we would see noise, we would see new things happening. We’d see you out where you’re actively in a place where they’re looking for you.”
When asked if they still have a good relationship, 50 responded bluntly: “No, because you leave it like it’s me not giving you the money.”
“That’s insane to me,” Naturi Naughton said to TMZ in response to 50’s statements. “Omari is literally the epitome of Power. Omari Hardwick started this amazing journey and I don’t know all of what happened with 50 and O. But I’ll say this: I love Omari Hardwick. He’s an amazingly talented human and he’s also a good person. But there would be no Power without Ghost.”
If you don’t know the why of it all, the tension traces back to a June 2022 episode of The Pivot podcast, where Hardwick shared that he earned $150,000 per episode on Power, a figure he felt was too low given his role as “the face of the network.” Hardwick revealed, “I still haven’t made what I should have made. I still never made the money—no, the money, I never made what I should have made. Never. Period. It’s happening now, finally.” He added that he had to borrow money from 50 Cent to support his family during production breaks and was proud to have repaid it. Hardwick suggested that 50 and series producer Courtney Kemp knew he was being underpaid, although he primarily blamed STARZ.
As for 50 Cent, even a minor mention of his name alongside Hardwick’s compensation issues was reason to take offense. “If you’re saying, ‘Courtney and 50 know,’ you’re saying that, but they don’t know who Courtney is—I introduced people to her. They don’t know who she is, so you’re leaving it as, ‘50 didn’t make sure I got paid.’ Mary [J. Blige] will tell you, she got paid a lot of money on the show the whole time. I made sure that sh*t was right.”
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