50 Cent and his hit “Power” franchise reportedly have fallen victim to yet another round of episode leaks.
To his presumed dismay, on Friday, May 12, the final two episodes of season three “Power Book II: Ghost” surfaced online. Groves of fans already had flocked to unauthorized sites to find out how the storyline wrapped before the rapper was able to address the matter publicly.
When he did, the only thing 50 could do was cast shade at Starz and its reported proven history of fumbling his shows.
“Give it up for the only network that leaks its biggest shows. [hand clap emojis] great work guys,” he wrote on May 13. In the past, he has called out Starz for uploading episodes only to remove them hours later.
Fan reactions to the latest instance were all over the place. One person suggested that the television mogul may have been behind the blunder. “Nice try 50 I read both of ur books I know u the one who leaked them,” read that person’s comment.
Two more supporters could not help but express interest in seeing Omari Hardwick return to the franchise as James St. Patrick/Ghost. “Man it was good though! They did real good on them last two.. now go get ghost,” wrote one person.
Another fan who expressed a similar sentiment commented, “Every person that has died.., they showed their body all except ghost!!!! Idk something is telling me he faked his death and he’s with ramona.”
And a fourth comment proved at least one person still planned to tune in to help with ratings. That comment read, “They were sooooo good im still gonna watch them when the air.” The series’ stars, Michael Rainey Jr. and Gianni Paolo, also alluded to the leak being fake.
Paolo also brought “BMF’s” star Da’Vinci into the fold when he jokingly blamed him.
“This is the dude who probably leaked the episodes to mess with our ratings…” Paolo captioned a photo of himself, Da’Vinchi and Rainey. Woody McClain, who plays Cane Tejada, wrote online, “Feeling like Cane cause i know who leaked.”
The “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” artist has a long history of frustrations with Starz. Many of his grievances have been aired out for fans to read on Instagram in the past. According to Deadline, 50 Cent parted ways with the network when he opted not to renew his overall deal in September of last year.
He originally signed the massive deal, reportedly valued at around $150 million, in 2018. At that time, his hit show “Power” already had been on the air for five seasons under a previous deal. During his tenure with the premium TV and movie channel, which is owned by Lionsgate, the mogul also launched “Power Book III: Raising Kanan,” “Power Book IV: Force” and “BMF.”
In April, he made it clear that he has no plans to revive a business relationship with the network that helped him fulfill his goal of breaking into the television industry.
“I have the number 1,2,3, and 4 top Tv shows in African American, and Latina households and i hate that i did them with the wrong people. I’m not doing any BMF spin offs or selling any other shows to STARZ,” he declared in a since-deleted Instagram post.
50 Cent instead moved forward with a new venture with Fox Entertainment. In February, he signed a non-exclusive deal to develop scripted dramas, live-action comedies and animated series. The project will be a collaboration between FOX and his production company, G-Unit Film & Television.
“Whether it’s music, film or television, Curtis always delivers premium entertainment that captivates millions of fans across the globe,” Fox Entertainment president Michael Thorn said told Variety in a statement.
“He is the rare multi-hyphenate with a deft hand at storytelling, no matter the format or medium, and we’re looking forward to developing new and exciting series for Fox with him and his team,” added Thorn. Fifty excitedly announced the news in a Valentine’s Day post, reminding fans he never misses his target.
Deals aside, the Grammy winner is also in the process of constructing a new headquarters for his production company. In early May, he purchased a 985,000-square-foot warehouse for that purpose. He did not disclose if the business is located in his new home state of Texas.
