Omari Hardwick Once Addressed 50 Cent’s Online Jokes About Him
Power actor Omari Hardwick has always expressed gratitude towards 50 Cent for giving him the opportunity of a lifetime. The music mogul played a huge role in getting Hardwick cast as Ghost in the entertaining Starz television series. As many know, 50 Cent also likes to entertain by frequently joking around using his social media platform.
But some wondered if Hardwick took 50 Cent’s humor personally when it was directed at him. Eventually, Hardwick had to respond.
Omari Hardwick was hesitant to accept the lead role in ‘Power’
Power executive producers 50 Cent and Courtney Kempt were on the same page when it came to casting Hardwick as Ghost. But it was Hardwick himself who initially had reservations about taking on the lead role because he was afraid. It was a fear, however, that Hardwick was determined to overcome.
“I feared it for many a reason. Ultimately, I had to look in the mirror and put it on myself and say I think I was really afraid of grabbing that big-ass mountain and putting it on my shoulders and being ‘the guy,’” he once said on the Fat Joe Show (via The Jasmine Brand).
Hardwick at the time was more comfortable with playing supporting characters who stole the show than the main lead.
But eventually, it was Hardwick’s wife that gave him the courage to accept the lead role.
“Finally, [my wife, Jae Pfautch] was like ‘God, please allow this man… to embrace his power.’ She used that word bro, and I didn’t even know the title of the show yet,” he confided.
Omari Hardwick once addressed 50 Cent making jokes about him
Always the entertainer, 50 Cent constantly uses his social media profiles to joke around with others. Sometimes, this has landed the rapper in hot water with fans and the media. Sometimes, he’d even poke funs at his own Power cast like Hardwick.
But the Spell star didn’t mind 50 Cent’s humor. And he insisted that it was a part of their friendship.
“If you’re raised like Omari or 50, then you’re going to challenge each other,” he once told ABC News. “Obviously, he challenges people. And as you know, Omari ain’t afraid to go after people on Instagram either. So, sometimes I’ll reach out and I’ll say, ‘Five, why do you do that?’ And he gives me an explanation for why he did that. Which means that he respects me enough to give me an explanation, because he could really ignore. And he doesn’t.”
Despite the jabs, Hardwick expressed utmost loyalty to 50 Cent for casting him in Power in the first place.
“You’re going to get a different level of respect for each other when, when each other sort of allows each other to be that thing,” he added. “50’s fun man. At the end of the day, he’s a fun, super-intelligent cat, who again — and I said — he changed my life.”
50 Cent once loaned Omari Hardwick $20,000
Hardwick and 50 Cent are close enough that the “In Da Club” hitmaker has even financially helped Hardwick when he needed it. But Hardwick didn’t take this help for granted and stayed true to his word by paying the rapper back.
“He loaned me one summer, like, 20 Gs. He said, ‘I can’t have my number one f***** up,” Hardwick once explained on the Angie Martinez show.
Not only did Hardwick repay 50 Cent, but he did so with interest. Something he felt was always the honorable thing to do when taking out loans.
“When we are loaned money, you can’t give back the same amount of money that was loaned to you. Because that person’s money could have been making money,” he said.
