50 Cent Brings $3.5M in Cash to Use as Prop for Magazine Cover Photo Shoot

For his recent cover photo shoot with The Hollywood Reporter, rapper 50 Cent arrived with $3.5 million in cash for the photographers to use as a prop.

Dressed all in green, wearing white sneakers, and smoking a cigar, “Fiddy” (real name Curtis Jackson) sits atop a mound of $100 bills while looking into the camera for this week’s edition.

The shoot took place on July 9 at Pier 59 Studios in New York with 50 Cent arriving with four security guards; presumably to guard the cash that was transported in two heavy black suitcases.

Fiddy tells The Hollywood Reporter that he didn’t have to visit the bank to get the notes, explaining he “just had that.” Adding, “I got more than that.”

The photos are credited to AB+DM which appear to be a photography duo consisting of Ahmad Barber and Donté Maurice.

Inspired by ‘The Greatest’

50 Cent says he was inspired to bring all the cash because of Muhammad Ali’s 1964 cover shoot for Sports Illustrated. The then 22-year-old boxer, who was still going by Cassius Clay, posed with $1 million in winnings.

“I was like, ‘I want to do a shoot like that’,” Fiddy tells The Hollywood Reporter. .

The 1964 Ali cover, released just before his pivotal fight against Sonny Liston for the heavyweight title, was shot by Richard Meek in a bank vault with a security guard watching over the boxer.

Snopes speculates that although the money is real in Ali’s photo, it was unlikely his because the accompanying articles from Ali talks about how he “will have earned” $1 million.

However, in that same article, Ali promised he would defeat reigning champ Liston in Miami which he did. Shortly after, he announced his conversion to Islam and with it a name to change to Muhammad Ali. He dominated the sport of boxing for years after.

Image credits: AB DM / The Hollywood Reporter