50 Cent Blasted For Using Michael K. Williams’ Death To Promote His TV Show & Bring Up A Past Feud
Fans are outraged.
LevRadin / DFree / Shutterstock Fans of Michael K. Williams are outraged after 50 Cent used his death to promote his TV show.
Williams, star of hit series ‘The Wire’ and ‘Boardwalk Empire,’ was found dead inside of his Brooklyn apartment at 2 PM on Monday, September 6.
Tributes for the late actor — both good and not-so-good ones — have been flooding in as many reacted to his tragic passing.
How did Michael K. Williams die?
Williams is suspected to have died of a heroin overdose in his Brooklyn penthouse apartment. His body was found by the New York Police Department.
Williams has grappled with drug addiction for years. He was previously vocal about how playing the iconic Omar Little on "The Wire" left him with an existential crisis.
The actor said he became a regular cocaine user while he dealing with identity issues while playing a character that he says he envied.
Fans were outraged by 50 Cent's comments about Michael K. Williams.
50 Cent made a post on instagram — which has since been deleted — with the caption ”Damn if you didn’t see Raising Kanan check it out that fentanyl is no joke, killing the clientele. RIP michael k. williams.”
His caption refers to “Power Book III: Raising Kanan,” a TV series based on 50 Cent's childhood in Queens.
As criticism grew, 50 Cent doubled down on his statement by sharing an excerpt of an old article that refered to past tensions between him and Williams.
The rapper and the actor previously came to blows after Williams defended his friend James Rosemond — a music executive that was found guilty of hiring a hitman to kill a friend of 50 Cent’s.
“Don’t ever try to understand me. I’m different. I don’t do all the fake love s–t,” he wrote while refering to this past feud.
50 Cent eventually deleted his posts but not before social media reacted.
"I’m starting to understand why 50 cent was shot 9 times," one person wrote.
"50 cent has literally shown us who he is for years. I honestly don't know why y'all still support his projects but that's another discussion," said another Twitter user.
'The Wire' cast paid tribute to Michael K. Williams.
Fortunately, other stars were on hand to offer kinder tribute to the great actor.
After the news broke, Williams' former co-stars spoke positively about working with the beloved actor.
“Michael took his role in this business very seriously,” Sonja Sohn, who played Detective Kima Greggs in ‘The Wire’, told CNN early Tuesday.
“He understood it to be a mission and purpose, a path that God chose for him.”
She also said that “he utilized this art form for something so much greater than his own benefit.”
Wendell Pierce, who played Detective Bunk Moreland in The Wire, took to Twitter so share his grief and say some kind words about the late actor.
“The depth of my love for this brother, can only be matched by the depth of my pain learning of his loss,” he tweeted.
“A immensely talented man with the ability to give voice to the human condition portraying the lives of those whose humanity is seldom elevated until he sings their truth.”
Isaac Serna-Diez is a writer who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice and politics.