50 Cent is denying any use of Ozempic for his recent weight loss.
50 Cent. PHOTO: 50 CENT/INSTAGRAM
On Wednesday, the “In da Club” rapper, 48, posted a video on Instagram shutting down rumors that his slim physique is due to him taking Ozempic, an FDA-approved prescription medication for people with type 2 diabetes.
It’s one of the brand names for semaglutide — also known as Wegovy — which works in the brain to impact satiety, and is the latest Hollywood weight loss trend.
“Everybody talking about weight loss. I was in the gym. I was working the f— out, man. Who says Ozempic? I was running,” he insisted. “I was running, I was doing what I had to do.”
“You seen me on tour. I was running around,” he continued. “I was 253 lbs., I came down and I’m 210 right now. Oww, so how you feel about it?”
50 Cent performs in Atlanta in August 2023. PRINCE WILLIAMS/WIREIMAGE
Back in August 2023, 50 Cent admitted to Men’s Health that his fitness inspiration came from an unlikely place: the attempt on his life. “I’m … working out to get myself stronger, ’cause who’s to say you’re not gonna get hit again?” the rapper said.
After being shot nine times in 2000 — and then returning with a famously defined physique — 50 Cent, (born Curtis Jackson) seemed almost superhuman. But he couldn’t help but compare himself to another shirtless performer — D’Angelo, whose 2000 “(Untitled) How Does It Feel” video showed off his body.
“I’m like, ‘Wait, what’s that?! Oh, nah, that’s important!’” he told the outlet.
So 50 Cent hit the gym — and it became such an important part of his life that he incorporated it into the video for “In Da Club.”
“I put the gym in the middle of the video because, to me, that’s where I looked the coolest,” the rapper said at the time. “That’s where I learned strong is not all muscle; it’s about being mentally and physically strong.”
50 Cent. 50 CENT/INSTAGRAM
But in his new career as an actor and a producer — he helmed and starred in the Starz smash Power, appears in the new installment of the Expend4bles franchise, and has a true-crime podcast, Surviving El Chapo — 50 Cent said he’s had to change his appearance for roles.
While he caused a stir on social media appearing a bit more thick than usual at the Super Bowl in 2022, he took it in stride.
“I’m bigger than I was in the original video [for ‘In da Club’], but damn, I ain’t fat,” he said, adding with a joke, “After the Super Bowl was over, I’ve been hungry since.”
“It’s more important to get back in shape now than it was then,” he told Men’s Health. “Simply because I’m getting older. It’s harder.”