Hardwick has previously complained of being lowballed as the leading man on 'Power.'
50 Cent and Omari Hardwick may have had a great relationship during the latter’s time on STARZ series Power, but there bond seems to have been broken thanks to Hardwick’s recent complaints about compensation for the series.
During his most recent sit-down on The Breakfast Club, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson expressed his belief that Hardwick “overvalues” himself, pointing to the fact that the actor has not plugged any major projects since Power‘s 2020 finale.
“I think he overvalues himself,” 50 told the morning show hosts. “Because…it’s been a long time since he’s been in Power, why are we not excited about the new projects?”
A confused Charlamagne Tha God then asked, “What new projects? I didn’t know…”
“See, that’s what I’m talking about,” 50 asserted. “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’re still “cool,” 50 replies without hesitation, “No, because you leave it like it’s me not giving you the money.”
During a June 2022 conversation on The Pivot podcast, Hardwick revealed that he made $150K per episode of Power, believing that to be too low of a figure for someone who is “the face of the network,” in Hardwick’s words.
“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,” Harwick shared. “Period. It’s happening now, finally.” He added that he had to borrow money from 50 Cent during the summers to support his family and was proud to have paid it back. He also said 50 and fellow producer Courtney Kemp were aware of the fact that he was being lowballed because “they’re higher up in the company,” though it does seem like he put more of the blame on STARZ as a network than on 50 and Kemp.
Still, mention of his name in association with low-pay was enough for 50 to take offense.
“If you saying, ‘Courtney and 50 know,’ you saying that, they don’t know who the f**k Courtney is, I introduce people to her. They don’t know who she is, so you leaving it as ’50 didn’t make sure I got paid.’ Mary will tell you, she got paid a lot of money on the show while she was there the whole time. I made sure that sh*t was right.”
Check out the Q&A below.
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