50 Cent seems to collect controversies the way some collect coins.
The rapper-turned-actor, presumably with some time to kill before taking a flight out of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, decided to create a video in which he complained about the youth of today. In the video, he verbally accosted a recent high school graduate named Andrew Farrell, who works at the airport as a custodian.
It opens with 50, donning a wide-brim cap and what appears to be several days’ stubble, talking directly directly into the camera.
“The new generation is crazy,” he says, ignoring the irony that he plans to share it on social media sites the “new generation” created. “They crazy.”
The rapper, also known as Curtis Jackson III, then approaches Farrell, who quietly pushes his custodial cart along the airport corridor.
“What’s your name?” 50 asks.
In response, Farrell shakes his head and continues to push the cart. He keeps his eyes trained straight ahead and looks uncomfortable. Regardless, 50 continues to follow Farrell, keeping the camera trained on him.
“Look at him … What kinda s– you think he took before he got to work today? He high as a … (obscenity) … right here in the airport, pupil dilated everything, lookin’ like.”
The entire time, as 50 moves the camera to capture a portrait of Farrell’s face, the young man shakes his head and tries to look away.
“The new generation is … (obscenity) … crazy,” 50 concludes as the video cuts off.
He then posted the video to Instagram on Sunday, apparently considering himself — the man who wrote “Gatman and Robbin’,” “My Gun Go Off” and “P.I.M.P.” — to be a cultural critic.
The video circulated and was seen by an acquaintance of Farrell, an Instagram user, according to Cincinnati.com, who identified Farrell from school.
“I went to school with him,” the user wrote. “He has extreme social difficulties just to let you know. 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.”
Ultimately it came to the attention of Farrell’s parents as well, who were appalled and went on TV to say so. Andrew has a hearing impairment, autism and social anxiety disorder, WKYT reported. “It hurts to watch that, it’s painful,” Andrew’s stepfather, Ken Kramer, told WKRC. “You come up and you start talking to a kid you know nothing about. That’s not fair. That’s a slap in the face.”
“Why would you attack my kid like that?” Farrell’s mother, Amanda Kramer, told Cincinatti.com. “It doesn’t say much about his character when he has to attack a kid he doesn’t even know.”
“It’s nice to know that there’s people that he went to school with that maybe he didn’t talk to, but that know his character,” she said. “All this kind of bullying that people are doing on the Internet, whether you’re a celebrity or not, it’s got to stop. It hurts people, and it takes a long time to recover from those kinds of things.”
