What Madonna and 50 Cent Have Said About Each Other Over the Years

Madonna and 50 Cent are beefing once again, having been at each other's throats for years.

The rapper labeled the 64-year-old musician a "grand ma" this week for posting a series of videos lip-syncing to Kendrick Lamar songs.

But it's not the first time the "Candy Shop" hitmaker has mocked the Evita star or taken shots at her age.

Here, Newsweek takes a look back at their long-running feud.

Comp Photo, 50cent and Madonna
50 Cent (L) attends 'Power Book III: Raising Kanan' global premiere on July 15, 2021 in New York City. Madonna (R) attends the Moschino [TV] H&M London Launch Party on November 6, 2018. Madonna and... Getty Images Europe/Jamie McCarthy/David M. Bennett/Scott Gries

2003—Celebrity Pals

Back when 50 Cent's star was on the rise he celebrated getting to meet Madonna and posed happily in photos with her during a November 13 appearance on MTV's Total Request Live.

2011—Record label drama

The pair were label buddies at Interscope Records when 50 Cent went on a Twitter tirade slamming the company for releasing a Madonna song with the same title as one of his songs.

He accused Interscope of releasing the artwork for the song "Girls Gone Wild" ahead of schedule.

"Man, interscope put out the single art saying its coming out on [December 31] but its not coming out. I'm not putting my album out till we are all on the same page," he tweeted.

"This is nuts to me. I try to do everything I can to keep my cool you know what? If they don't care I don't care I'm putting out a video now."

But then Madonna got dragged into the tirade when he realized she was also releasing a song by the same name.

"These people are gonna make [me] kill one of them," 50 Cent wrote. "Now madonna's single is called GIRLS GONE WILD. This is some bull s***."

2019—Body Shaming

Fast forward a few years and 50 Cent felt the need to comment on Madonna's booty after her surprise performance with son David at the famous LGBT Stonewall Inn bar in New York City.

Sharing a photo of Madonna singing with David, 50 Cent captioned the Instagram post: "hahhahaha Madonna got her a** done. LOL what the f*** is goin on."

Not one to shy away from a fight, Madonna later hit back on Twitter.

She wrote: "Desperately Seeking No Ones Approval..................😂. And Entitled to Free Agency Over My Body Like Everyone Else!! Thank you 2019 🎉🎉🎉! Its Going to Be an amazing Year!! 🔥🔥🔥! #2019 #freedom #respect #nofear #nodiscrimination."

2021—More Shaming, A Rare Apology and a Clapback

After Madonna shared a series of racy photos of herself on Instagram, 50 Cent once again mocked the singer over her age and choice of attire.

"Yo this is the funniest s***! LOL. That's Madonna under the bed trying to do like a virgin at 63. She shot out, if she don't get her old a** up. LMFAO," he wrote.

But Madonna was having none of it and pointed out to the time 50 Cent proudly associated with her and even described her as a friend.

"Here is 50 Cent pretending to be my friend. Now you have decided to talk smack about me!" Madonna wrote on her Instagram stories alongside a photo of the pair at MTV in 2003.

"I guess your new career [is] getting attention by trying to humiliate others on social media. The least elevated choice [you] could make as [an] artist and an adult. [You're] just jealous you won't look as good as me or have as much fun when you are my age!"

But 50 Cent didn't back down, taking to Twitter to issue some kind of an apology.

"I must have hurt Madonna feelings, she went and dug up a old MTV photo from 03," he wrote.

50 Cent added: "Ok Im sorry I did not intend to hurt your feelings. I don't benefit from this in anyway i said what i thought when i saw the picture because of where i had seen it before i hope you accept my apology."

Once again, Madonna was not keen on his apology and shared a video from BET where 50 Cent described her as "a friend of mine".

"Delayed Clap back for 50 cent And his fake apology," Madonna said in a video posted to Instagram.

"OK, so this is a message for 50 Cent. I want to respond to your response to my response to your post, which was essentially you were trying to shame me. You were trying to humiliate me.

"Yeah, your apology is fake, it's bull**** and it's not valid. Let me just hit those four or five points about your apology being invalid. Number one, it's not hard to find footage of you and me hanging out."

Madonna added: "an apology is not valid if you don't know what you're apologizing for. What you should be apologizing for is your misogynistic, sexist ageist behavior and remarks."

She said 50 Cent "didn't hurt my feelings because I don't take it personally—I could never take it personally, because you're not coming from an enlightened place."

"[You] say that you're not benefiting from it, of course you're benefiting from it—that is what social media is all about. You do understand that, right?" Madonna continued.

"We post things about ourselves and we use Instagram and other forms of social media because we want attention. We want people to buy our products, we want people to invest in our brands, we want people to listen to our music, we want people to go to our concerts, we want people to notice us, we want people to like us."

She concluded: "There's nothing wrong with any of those things, but don't kid yourself if you think you have an Instagram account and you're not benefitting from it. Shut it down. Stop lying to yourself. OK, so you're reposting somebody else's low level of consciousness postings that are meant to shame and humiliate other people.

"That's f***** up. You are trying to put a limit on when women should be able to feel good about themselves. So finally, I just wanna say I forgive you and I hope that one day you wake up and see a different point of view. I wish you all the best."

50 Cent later deleted his apology tweet but still lashed out at Madonna by splicing her video into a short film where he seemed to respond as an "Anonymous" style avatar.

He captioned the post: "The Purge Begins now! 🤷🏽‍♂️hey is there a age limit for this kinda shit man,i'm asking for a friend."

June 2022

The "Candy Shop" rapper once again mocked Madonna for posing in lingerie and sexy positions on Instagram.

"I hope she didn't make her kids take this picture. LOL at 63 somebody tell her to chill out please," he wrote on Instagram.

Madonna did not respond this time.

November 6, 2022

50 Cent slammed Madonna as a "grand ma" for rapping to Kendrick Lamar and twerking in her underwear.

In the videos posted to her TikTok and Instagram, the "Material Girl" is rapping along to the chorus of Lamar's "Vent," complete with silver grills on her teeth.

"Have you ever been punched in your motherf****** face? What you say, oh you haven't? Alright, wait!" she mimes with silver grills in her mouth," she rapped.

Then in another video, Madonna danced around in her lacy underwear, while sporting thick chains and the grills.

An unimpressed 50 Cent shared an article from The Root slamming Madonna for trying to "use rap music for clout."

He captioned the Instagram post: "👀told y'all grand ma was on b#######! like a virgin at 64. LOL #bransoncognac."

Madonna has yet to respond.

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

About the writer


Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more

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