50 Cent criticized for downplaying sexual assault of ‘Power’ actor Michael Rainey Jr.

50 Cent is under fire for making insensitive comments about “Power” star Michael Rainey Jr.’s sexual assault story.

After the 23-year-old actor was molested by the streamer’s sister during TyTy James’ Twitch stream, 50 expressed his thoughts on the incident in a since-deleted Instagram post on Monday (June 10).

He has largely denied unwanted touching, writing: “Wait, sexual assault [frowning face emoji] From a male perspective, this is an aggressive advance. Haha he’s fine and not charged with anything.

The rapper and media mogul was criticized for his comments, with one social media user commenting: “The fact that 50 Cent came out and said that Michael Rainey (Tariq from “Power”) was not sexually assaulted is that he OK, but when he was clearly uncomfortable, he immediately felt uncomfortable.

“Women can be predators too. Women can sexually assault others too and women need to be held accountable. If he did this to her his life and career would be in trouble. We have to protect our young black men too!

Another said: “50 Cent posted on Instagram mocking and downplaying his leading man who was sexually assaulted in front of the world. He called it “a positive development.” But I’m supposed to believe this guy cares about the victims…”

A third critic put it more bluntly: “50 Cent is very good at being a horrible person.”

Tyrell’s sister sexually assaulted actor Michael Rainey on live stream, then he abruptly left the air after 20 minutes 😬😬 pic.twitter.com/Mc0CS3bm32

— FearBuck (@FearedBuck) June 10, 2024

Rainey Jr. himself issued a statement about the incident, a video of which went viral.

“By now you’ve all seen the video circulating online. I’m still in shock and don’t know how to process what happened last night,” he wrote on Instagram Stories.

“This is an unfortunate situation that I do not condone in any way. I cannot take it lightly because I know I would be in serious trouble if the roles were reversed.

He added: “The truth is, sexual assault is unacceptable regardless of gender or status. We are all human beings and we should respect each other. Most importantly, we should always respect ourselves.

TyTy also apologized to Rainey Jr. for what happened on the live stream, saying, “Following the behavior that occurred on last night’s live stream, I would like to sincerely apologize to Michael and his family for what happened.

“My sister was simply wrong and overstepped her bounds. Her actions were deeply inappropriate and unacceptable. I am deeply embarrassed and disgusted by her actions.

“I completely respect whatever direction Michael wants to go in this situation,” he continued. “After watching this video, I was really surprised by what she did [sic].

“I will take extreme precautions on future live broadcasts to avoid similar issues and ban her from future live broadcasts. I will not tolerate attacks of any kind.”