50 Cent got busted lip-syncing during a performance at the BET Awards on Tuesday night. The rapper had been part of a pre-show feature where fans could text whether they wanted him to perform “Straight to the Bank” or “Amusement Park”. The latter ended up winning, and as 50 began the performance, something was obviously wrong, as he looked odd singing the chorus.
Then, in a delightful bit of karmic justice, it was revealed that he had actually lip-synced the chorus, as when he tried to do the same with the opening verse, it was revealed that DJ Whoo Kidd had accidentally put on the instrumental version, and 50 was left mouthing the words as nothing but a beat played in the background. Trying to pick up the pieces of his shattered ego (rather than opting to run off-stage à la Ashlee Simpson), 50 shouted “What the f*ck?!” into the microphone, in an attempt to make it seem as if the microphone had malfunctioned. Bullshit.
Tony Yayo, meanwhile, shouted, “What up, 50?”, to which 50 responded, “I’m just trying to find out where everybody’s at” before he wandered over to Snoop Dogg to shake his hand for some reason. After shouting “yeah” and various Lil Jonisms with Yayo for the entire first verse (which 50 apparently had forgotten), he did manage to regroup and rap the second verse.
Many attendees were confused as to what was going on, as 50 looked completely lost onstage. “The whole thing was so embarrassing,” one fan said. “To get caught like that in front of millions of people is almost unimaginable.” Another person told reporters, “No one in the audience really knew what was going on. It just seemed like he cut the performance short… But now that I know he was lip-syncing, I think it’s hilarious.”
50 Cent later told reporters for The SMonday Swindle Sheet, in an EXCLUSIVE interview, that the reason why he looked so out of his element was because it wasn’t actually him onstage, but rather, a sun bear dressed up like him. Well, in his defense, he does kind of look like a sun bear.
