(NewsNation) — Rapper 50 Cent is reportedly in talks to attend the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week, according to a CNN report.
NewsNation partner The Hill later confirmed that the rapper “will not be attending.” The “In Da Club” rapper will “be in Shreveport preparing for his Humor and Harmony upcoming festival” scheduled for next month, a representative for 50 Cent said Monday.
A series of celebrities, including 50 Cent and singer Kid Rock, took to social media in reaction to the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania.
The former president on Saturday said he was hit in the ear by a bullet while speaking at a rally in Butler County. One rally attendee was killed, as was the suspected shooter, whom the FBI identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park.
50 Cent posted a photo Saturday on the social platform X of his studio album, “Get Rich or Die Tryin,” with Trump’s head edited onto the rapper’s body.
“Trump gets shot and now I’m trending [shoulder shrug emoji],” the rapper wrote above the photo.
In an earlier post by the rapper that has since been deleted, 50 Cent posted a photo showing the moment Trump raised his fist in the air moments after he was grazed and bloodied by a bullet. The rapper attached his song, “Many Men (Wish Death),” and wrote, “I know the vibes … we are all in trouble now!”
The song’s lyrics include, “Many men wish death upon me. Blood in my eye.” It was not immediately clear why the post was deleted.
50 Cent was reportedly shot nine times in 2000.
Trump on Sunday thanked the nation for its concern over the attempt on his life and called on Americans to unite. Later in the day, he said he would travel to Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention.
In June, the rapper said he saw Black men “identifying” with Trump in November’s presidential election.
When asked why he believed that, 50 Cent said, “Because they got RICO charges.”
When asked if he had made his choice, he also said he had not yet decided who to support in November’s election. He previously signaled support for Trump in the 2020 election but later appeared to walk back his endorsement.
50 Cent appeared to be referring to Trump’s charges in the Georgia election interference case. The former president is charged with violating Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations, or RICO, Act for allegedly participating in a scheme to undermine the state’s 2020 election results and stay in office.
The federal RICO Act was enacted in 1970 to tackle organized crime and to often target the leaders of mobs. The Supreme Court wrote in a 1989 opinion that the law was written “broadly enough to encompass a wide range of criminal activity, taking many different forms and likely to attract a broad array of perpetrators,” The Associated Press noted.
After the federal RICO Act was enacted, states passed similar laws.
The music star’s representative didn’t respond when asked if 50 Cent was supporting Trump’s 2024 White House bid.
NewsNation partner The Hill’s Miranda Nazzaro and Lauren Sforza and Judy Kurtz contributed to this report.
