Social media slams rapper 50 Cent for mocking disabled airport worker
Rapper 50 Cent has come under fire on social media after he recorded and posted a video of himself mocking a disabled airport worker.
In the clip, which he has since removed from Instagram, the musician, whose real name is Curtis James Jackson III, accuses the worker at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport of being drunk or on drugs.
In reality, the young man lives with a form of autism.
“The Walking Dead, SMH LMAO I mean How high are you trying to get Damn !!! #EFFENVODKA #FRIGO” he wrote beneath his video.
In the clip, Jackson demands to know the young worker's name as he walks alongside him filming while accusing him of being unfit for work.
Jackson’s video did not get the response he may have been expecting.
An Instagram user under the handle rusty_stone9 identified Jackson’s target as 19-year-old Andrew Farrell as they let fly at the star.
“I went to school with him. He has extreme social difficulties just to let you know,” they wrote.
“He has a hard enough time getting through life without jackasses like you making fun of him.
“I hope you feel good about yourself. You just lost a huge fan.”
Deleting the clip did not save Jackson from the wrath of social media. It was quickly mirrored to YouTube and shared on Reddit under the headline “50 Cent is an a**hole”.
Versions of the video have been viewed well over a million times since Jackson posted the original on Sunday.
The social media storm also prompted Farrell’s family to come forward to reject Jackson’s claims and to declare they would consider legal action if they could afford it.
"Everything he said about him is not true,” Farrell’s mother Amanda told Cincinnati.com.
“He gets up. He goes to work. He does his job. He goes home. He doesn't bother anybody,"
"I want him to apologise to him more than anything and say that he was wrong. He should not have made those snap judgments.
“I'm tempted to contact a lawyer, but I don't have the resources to do that. Sometimes it's hard to fight a celebrity."
