Nearly two weeks after the midseason finale of “Power” aired, Naturi Naughton is discussing the meme 50 Cent posted based on a scene from the episode.
The viral moment saw Omari Hardwick‘s character Ghost pushing Naughton’s character Tasha’s forehead, knocking her head backward. The action occurred when Ghost warned Tasha to get her “s–t together” before he gets physical with the mother of his children. Before he heads out the door, Tasha threatens to kill her estranged husband if he touches her again.
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“If Tariq dies, his blood is on your hands,” Ghost tells Tasha before making the viral move with his finger against her forehead.
The screenshot swiftly made the rounds online. 50 shared an iteration of the meme that saw Ghost pushing Tasha’s forehead back juxtaposed with a photo of Naughton wearing a high ponytail with her hairline appearing to be absent.
“POWER never ends, Ghost f–ked up the edges. LOL,” read 50’s caption.
The moment led to backlash online, with many feeling as if 50, who serves as executive producer on the hit Starz drama, went too far.
“You dead f–king wrong fofty🤣🤣🤣 if I was her I would quit the damn show 🤣🤣🤣🤣)” one fan remarked.
“Damn that’s messed up. Don’t do my girl like that 😟,” someone else said.
Comedian Loni Love defended Naughton on “The Real” last week saying in part, “What I’m tired of is that our people always talk about our people. I don’t think that that’s right. We’re always making fun.”
Naughton appreciated Love’s remarks and commented on the daytime talk show’s Instagram page, “I appreciate you @comiclonilove ❤️🙏🏾.”
Now, she’s reacting directly to 50’s meme telling Page Six she had a chat with the man who played now-deceased “Power” character, Kanan.
“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,” Naughton told the celebrity news, gossip and entertainment website. “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.”
Indeed, Naughton reacted to the post on her Instagram Story saying, “🤔 umm… mean much @50cent 🤦🏽♀️😔 Don’t I make you look good every Sunday night? But cool…”
50 shared a screenshot of it on his Instagram account saying, “👀yes you do a great job on the show @naturi4real. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings 🤦♂️#lecheminduroi #bransoncognac.”
The original meme still remains on 50’s page, however.
