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‘Lift Them Both Up’: ‘Power Book III: Raising Kanan’ Star Claps Back At 50 Cent for Comparing Her to Taraji P. Henson’s ‘Empire’ Character

50 Cent, aka Mr. Troll Master himself, is at it again with his trolling ways…this time with an actress for his own television show.

The New York rapper turned actor and executive producer uploaded a collage photo of Cookie Lyon, played by Taraji P. Henson on Fox’s “Empire” alongside a photo of Raquel “Raq” Thomas, a lead character on 50 Cent’s new “Power” spin-off series “Power Book III: Raising Kanan.”

50 Cent (Photo: @50cent/Instagram)

Both characters can be described as fierce and brave mothers who get involved with selling drugs to make a better life for their children and themselves. Fifty, who has called out “Empire” once before for copying his plot is once again trying to prove why his show is better than that one by comparing the female leads of the two shows.

Under the Aug. 10 post, he praised Patina Miller for her performance as Raq by saying she was better than Cookie Lyon. He said, “👀 you know i don’t miss nothing @patinamiller knocking cookie shit out the box. Empire who, how, where? LOL#bransoncognac #lecheminduroi.”

It seems that while Miller is grateful for the praise, she is also not here for bringing down another Black woman. In the comments she responded, “Normally I wouldnt comment, but i feel its necessary…both of these characters are strong af. I love that queen and look up to her! I do think both characters can co exist and one doesnt have to be ‘better’ than the other…Lift them both up!! Thank you for your support always @50cent.”

50 Cent compares Patina Miller’s character to that of Taraji P. Henson. (Photo: @50cent/Instagram)

But, of course, the “Many Men” rapper hit Miller back with a response by screenshotting her comments. He wrote in the caption, “👀did she just say that? 😆@patinamiller i’m the only one comparing you and @tarajiphenson to make people see you that way. Taraji crazy ass put in a lot of work, it takes a lot of time to get in the hearts and minds of an audience like that. 🤔you over there on some ✊🏾black women power shit 🤦‍♂️smh LOL WTF 🤷🏽‍♂️ #bransoncognac #lecheminduroi.”

50 Cent has been blasting “Empire” for years now, accusing the show of mimicking the marketing of “Power.” He’s posted the cast members several times with a sly caption. Eventually, Henson started to respond, and in one of those responses, she said something similar to Miller’s comment about tearing another Black person down.

In January 2020, she sat down with T.I. on his podcast “ExpediTIously” where she addressed 50 Cent’s comments about the shows. She said, “Why are we pitting two black shows against each other when it’s hard enough to get a black show on the air? That’s when I get pissed off, because that’s the crabs and the barrel f*cking mentality.” She also added, “Then again 50, do you know what the f–k I had to do to get here? Why tear down another black person? For competition?”

50 Cent made somewhat of an apology shortly afterward on Instagram and told Henson, “I did not mean to hurt your feelings in anyway. I love your work and I think you are amazing.” But any sweet approach flipped when he said, “if you don’t roll with me, your gonna get rolled the f–k over.”

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