Rapper 50 Cent mocked autistic man on Twitter
Rapper 50 Cent is in hot water again, but this time it's not over his bankruptcy case.
The rapper posted a since-deleted video on Twitter mocking a 19-year-old man working at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. He narrated the video, saying the man was high on drugs.
But the parents of the airport worker, Andrew Farrell, say they are heartbroken that the rapper made such claims about their son, who is mildly autistic and suffers from social anxiety. They say Farrell was not on drugs, and was simply on his way to clean one of the gates at the airport, reports WKRC Cincinnati.
"It hurts to watch that, it's painful," said Andrew's stepfather, Ken. "You come up and you start talking to a kid you know nothing about. That's not fair. That's a slap in the face."
In the video, 50 Cent follows Andrew and says, "Look at him. What kinds s**t you think he took before he came to work today? He high as a motherf***er right here in the airport."
Andrew's mother, Amanda, says she thinks the rapper was upset that Andrew ignored the celebrity.
"Andrew didn't know who he was right away and he ignored him and he did his job and went about his business," she said. "I think he was mad and offended that someone didn't flock to him."
Andrew told WKRC, "I don't do drugs. I believe in God. I'm a hard worker."
Andrew and his family said they have received an overwhelming number of positive messages on social media, though 50 Cent has yet to respond.
The video below contains graphic language.
UPDATE: 50 Cent has issued an apology for the incident, expressing his regret.
"While the incident at the airport resulted from an unfortunate misunderstanding, I am truly sorry for offending the young man," the rapper said in a statement, according to Page Six. "It was certainly not my intent to insult him or the disability community, which is a source of great strength in America. I have apologized personally to him and his family."