50 Cent says Eminem turned down a huge sum to play the World Cup
50 Cent has claimed Eminem turned down the big bucks to perform at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Though there certainly were a lot of them, chants from football fans were far from the only songs that rang out in Qatar as teams from across the globe travelled there last year.
Musicians from the US, Jamaica, Germany, Spain and France among others all travelled to Qatar as part of the World Cup, with Lebanese singer Myriam Fares and Colombian star Maluma opening the Live Stage with headline solo concerts.
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Calvin Harris also put on a show for fans watching the event, but they missed out on seeing Eminem spit out some lyrics live from Doha.
After performing at the Super Bowl Halftime Show, Eminem has proven he can keep sports fans entertained. However, according to 50 Cent, not even millions of dollars were enough to convince him to travel to Qatar.
50, who also headlined the Super Bowl Halftime Show, revealed during an interview on Real 92.3’s Big Boy’s Neighbourhood that both he and Eminem were approached to perform at the World Cup, with organisers hoping they would put an a show together.
He explained: "Because of the Super Bowl, I got an inquiry about World Cup and they had a budget of $9 million (£7.3m)."
The rapper claimed he would have been happy to take $1 million (£820,000) as payment, leaving Eminem to take home the remaining $8 million (£6.6m)
Em seemingly couldn't be convinced, though as after 50 discussed the offer with Eminem’s manager Paul Rosenberg, he learned he'd declined the opportunity.
"They’re like, he’s not gonna do it," 50 said. "If you would do a one-off show, maybe you would do the biggest live sporting event in the world."
It's unclear why Eminem turned down the show, but his decision likely saved him a lot of backlash from fans.
After Calvin Harris was confirmed to be performing at the World Cup, he was quickly hit with criticism from LGBTQ+ campaigners and human rights activists who disagree with Qatar's human rights laws.
Following the announcement, LGBTQ+ rights activist Peter Tatchell wrote on Twitter: "I'm a big fan of Calvin Harris, so I'm incredibly disappointed that he's performing in a country where women, LGBT+ people and migrant workers are treated as second-class citizens. He has been bought by the Qataris..."
News of Em's rejection of the World Cup comes as 50 Cent confirmed he and Eminem are working on an 8 Mile series which will focus on Eminem's life and legacy.
Emily Brown