50 Cent told his 26 million Instagram followers to vote for Trump.
The rapper/actor/businessman (real name Curtis Jackson III) was apparently shocked to learn that top earners living in New York and California could face a potential tax rate of more than 60 percent under the tax plan put forth by former Vice President Joe Biden.
50 Cent posted a picture to his Instagram page on Monday showing what the top tax rates would be in the most heavily taxed states under Biden’s plan. (He lives in New York.) He captioned the picture: “WHAT THE FUCK! (VOTE ForTRUMP) IM OUT, FUCK NEW YORK The KNICKS never win anyway. I don’t care Trump doesn’t like black people 62% are you out of ya fucking mind.”
“Fiddy” (another variant of his stage name) has said positive things about the president in the past.
In May, 50 Cent did an interview with The Guardian where he spoke about Trump’s handling of the coronavirus: “It’s an awkward situation. If you respond too fast, you’re wrong, because everyone would be kicking and screaming and saying you shut everything down. But if you shut it down late, you’re wrong. So you can’t win in that situation.”
In that same interview, 50 Cent said that he saw similarities between himself and the president: “People hate him or love him. There’s no in-between. And for me, I’m looking at it and going: ‘That’s the exact position I’m in.’”
50 Cent’s first album “Get Rich Or Die Tryin’” sold 12 million copies when it debuted in 2003, making it the best-selling album of the year. He was also the first artist since The Beatles to have four songs in the Billboard Top 10 at the same time. In addition to a music career, he has a long list of acting credits.
50 Cent used his success in the entertainment industry to invest in a wide range of businesses including Vitamin Water, which later sold to Coca-Cola.
He also had well-publicized money troubles that resulted in filing for bankruptcy in 2015, and another similarity to Trump: “Businesspeople will do that in a heartbeat before losing money. Because it means they have the ability to be secure and invest again.” He emerged from bankruptcy in 2017, and later signed a deal with Starz reportedly worth up to $150 million.
50 Cent told The Guardian that if there was one thing he could change about the U.S. it would be taxes: “I don’t like them. They want too much of the money back,” he said, laughing.
In an interview with Variety in August, 50 Cent said he made a decision to not be vocal about politics, because he’s an entertainer. But he did offer a few thoughts, including a call for more conscious capitalism such as businesses partnering with non-profit organizations.
“The top guys, the leading shareholders for the major corporations around here, if you took 10 percent of what they have, it wouldn’t change 1 percent of anything that goes on in their lives. There would still be the same lifestyle, their entire life,” he said. “We wouldn’t even have a homeless issue.”
But he also said there are “lot of people who absolutely do not agree with Donald Trump’s tactics who would still be a complete Trump supporter” because they are concerned about the other side. “Do we go from bad to terrible?” he asked.
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