Jussie Smollett Responds to 50 Cent's Criticism of Empire: "I Don't Know Him"

50 Cent caused a stir last year when he published a post from another Instagram account on his own feed that seemed to blame Empire's Season 2 ratings slump on the "extra gay stuff." The rapper later deleted the post from his profile, but that doesn't mean people aren't still talking about the incident. 

In fact, Andy Cohen asked Jussie Smollett, who is openly gay and whose character on Empire, Jamal Lyon, is also gay, what he thought of 50's controversial move when he appeared on Watch What Happens Live Wednesday night. "I don't know him," Jussie said initially, noticeably taking a page out of Mariah Carey's book. 

Though that comment might seem shady, Jussie actually doesn't seem to have any hard feelings toward 50 Cent. "I mean, look, at the end of the day, honest to God, I'm the first person to celebrate diversity and celebrate all different people on television. I'll be damned if I'm gonna be the one that's gonna argue with another person that's doing the same thing we're doing," Jussie said. "I love Power. I love it all, so I don't know 50. I love [50 Cent's Power co-star] Naturi [Naughton], I love Power, and I'm here for it. So anything he says, that's on him." 

Vivica A. Fox ignited a bit of a beef with 50 Cent when she responded to his Empire drama on WWHL in November 2015. "First of all, you know, the pot calling the kettle black is all I'm saying," she said (clip below).

Did Vivica Insinuate that 50 Cent is Gay?

The actress later clarified that she doesn't think 50 is gay but then seemed to backtrack when she described a certain magazine cover with him on it. "I'll just never forget there was a Vibe cover [the magazine was actually XXL] with him and Soulja Boy that made me kind of go, 'Hmm.'" 

Jussie's reference to that infamous comment of Mariah's, who will make a guest appearance on Empire this season, came up in earnest during the WWHL After Show after a caller asked for his thoughts on her supposed years-long feud with Jennifer Lopez. "I've met J.Lo twice. She was super sweet to me," he said. "I don't know if it's a big feud. I just think that Mariah don't know her. She just don't know her. Come on, y'all. So I don't think it's a big feud, not that I know of." 

But after Andy revealed that J.Lo has told him several times that she does know Mariah, Jussie changed his tune. "So maybe it is a feud," he said. 

See what other juicy tidbits Jussie and his Empire co-star Gabourey Sidibe revealed during the After Show, below.

After Show: Gabby on Loving Yourself