Jay-Z and his family made their first public appearance following the rapper’s rape allegations — and fellow rapper 50 Cent wasted no time mocking him for it.
With wife Beyoncé, daughter Blue Ivy Carter and mother-in-law Tina Knowles by his side, Jay-Z walked the red carpet of the Mufasa premiere in Hollywood, California on Monday, December 9.
50 Cent (real name Curtis Jackson) took aim at the rapper for the decision, sharing photos of Jay-Z with Beyoncé, 43, and Blue Ivy, 12, at the event via Instagram that same evening.
“Jay said they said I rapped [sic] a kid, everybody get dressed we going to see Mufasa LOL,” the Get Rich or Die Tryin’ rapper, 49, captioned the since-deleted post.
The outing marked the first public appearance of Jay-Z, 55, since he was accused on Sunday, December 8 of raping a 13-year-old girl in the early 2000s along with Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Earlier on Monday, 50 Cent took to social media and appeared to allude to the controversy via a post on his X account which referenced the Super Bowl.
The rapper shared a popular meme of himself sitting in a car and driving away.
“Ok I don’t know what’s going on, but are we gonna still have the Super Bowl. 😟,” he captioned the post. “I’m just asking for a friend.”
Jay-Z’s company Roc Nation has played a key part in pulling together the Super Bowl’s halftime entertainment since 2020.
Kendrick Lamar is currently scheduled to be this year’s headliner, performing at the event which is to be held in February 2025 in New Orleans.
When asked about the X post on the “Big Boy TV” podcast episode later that day, 50 Cent joked, “I’m just asking for Kendrick. I’m just trying to figure out if we’re still doing everything.”
He explained that he believed the NFL might want to cut ties after the allegations, adding, “They will fall back, the NFL… they won’t necessarily be associated with that.”
Per NBC News, Jay-Z was accused of allegedly raping a 13-year-old girl in 2000 with Combs, 55. The accuser, who has remained anonymous and was only identified as “Jane Doe,” claimed the assault occurred at an afterparty for the MTV Music Video Awards.
Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, responded to the lawsuit on Sunday, December 8. The statement, provided to Us Weekly, denied the allegations, saying that his “only heartbreak is for my family.” (Jay-Z has been married to Beyoncé since 2008, and the pair share three children, Blue Ivy and twins Rumi and Sir, both 8.)
“My wife and I will have to sit our children down, one of whom is at the age where her friends will surely see the press and ask questions about the nature of these claims, and explain the cruelty and greed of people,” Jay-Z’s statement read. “I mourn yet another loss of innocence. Children should not have to endure such at their young age. It is unfair to have to try to understand inexplicable degrees of malice meant to destroy families and human spirit.”
The statement also spoke to Jay-Z’s “strict codes and honor,” claiming that he strives to protect all children. Directing his response to Texas-based attorney Tony Buzbee, who filed the lawsuit on Sunday after its initial filing in October which only included Diddy’s alleged involvement, Jay-Z wrote, “You seem to exploit people for personal gain. Only your network of conspiracy theorists, fake physics, will believe the idiotic claims you have levied against me that, if not for the seriousness surrounding harm to kids, would be laughable.”