If you follow 50 Cent on social media, you may have seen the rapper-turned-producer’s impassioned tweet on Feb. 15, saying Terrence Howard should be making “millions.” Howard, one of Hollywood’s most prolific actors, has been working nearly non-stop since his rise to stardom in the ‘90s and has no less than five projects in the works for 2024. So why is 50 Cent advocating for the Oscar nominee to his 13 million followers?
Howard claims to have had a rough time behind the scenes and recently opened up about his pay (or lack thereof) for his starring role as DJay in “Hustle & Flow.” The movie swept the 2006 BET Awards and won an “Original Song” Oscar — yet Howard revealed he earned just $12k for his part. To make matters worse, he wasn’t credited under his real name for the songs he recorded for the film.
In a resurfaced video captioned “How Hollywood Robs You,” Howard says, “I wanna get rid of the unions, SAG has done nothing.”
In the clip, which was taken from Howard’s November 2023 interview with WREG’s Alex Coleman on Live at 9, he went on to explain, “I made $12,000 doing ‘Hustle & Flow.’ On top of it, what Paramount did, instead of putting my name as ‘Terrence Howard’ performing the songs, they put ‘performed by Djay.’ Well, they owned Djay. So guess what, the performance royalties went to Paramount.”
The Oscar nominee says that in order to recoup the royalties he rightfully deserves, he has to drag the film studio into court.
“So now, I’ve got to send them a letter to say, ‘Hey, you guys owe me about 20 years worth of residuals and performance royalties,'” explained Howard.
50 Cent, real name Curtis Jackson, showed sympathy to Howard on X, posting, “This s—t hurt my stomach to hear. @terrencehoward say this. F—k em. I need the best actors and I’m gonna pay them. @tarajiphenson you cool with @maryjblige ask her, she got a BIG F—KIN BAG.”
This isn’t the first time Howard has gotten real about the lengths he’s taken to fight for fair compensation. He recently took on the largest agency in Hollywood, suing the Creative Artists Agency over his alleged lowball “Empire” salary. The hit TV series ran from 2015 to 2020, with Howard portraying lead character Lucious Lyon, the head of a hip-hop family dynasty. In the suit, Howard alleged the agency coaxed him to accept talent fees less than what he claimed he should have gotten in order to benefit other CAA clients.
“Discovery will show that this was racism,” Howard’s attorney, Carlos Moore, said in a December press conference.
50 Cent’s relationship with Howard and Taraji P Henson has been complicated due to the “Empire” actors being caught in the cross-hairs of the TV producer’s feud with FOX. According to 50 Cent, FOX was heavily influenced by his TV show, “Power,” when they created “Empire” and even went as far as to copy his marketing.
“Empire,” which debuted on FOX six months after “Power” debuted on Starz. In December 2014, 50 Cent wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post, “POWER Season 2 is unbelievably good trust me. I have the best writers and show runner. I like Terrence Howard and Taraji Henson. I don’t like that they would copy the marketing.”
Henceforth, 50 Cent took every opportunity to troll the “Empire” cast, even comparing their shows and ratings until the show ended in 2020.
“They stole my idea,” 50 Cent explained in a February 2023 interview with Billboard, discussing his beef with the show. “They said, ‘Empires are built on Power.’ That’s good marketing. And because I’m at a disadvantage of not having the finances to market at the same level, we gotta have a problem. That’s where the beef comes from.”
@billboard @50cent spoke on the #PowerTV vs. #Empire beef during his #Billboard interview 👀 #50cent #omarihardwick #naturinaughton #lelaloren #josephsikora #tvtok #tarajiphenson #terrencehoward ♬ original sound – billboard
50 Cent has remained adamant that despite his issues with “Empire,” there’s always been love between him, Henson, and Howard, so it’s no surprise that he wants to help Howard get a higher payday. The Queens native also posted on Instagram in January to support Henson after she spoke out about an income gap between her and white actresses.
