50 Cent: 'Baseball slipped out of my hand'
Rapper 50 Cent has defended himself after famously botching the ceremonial first pitch at the New York Mets baseball game on Tuesday (27May14), insisting the ball "slipped" from his hand.
The Candy Shop hitmaker, real name Curtis Jackson, took the mound at Citi Field at the start of the Mets' home game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, but his off-course throw was labelled "terrible" and "one of the worst first pitches of all time" by multiple sports commentators.
He laughed off the incident by joking after the game, "50 Cent is
the best. Curtis Jackson, I don't know what's the matter with him!"
and writing on Instagram.com, "I'm a hustler not a Damn ball
player. LMAO (laughing my a** off)..."
However, 50 had another excuse on Friday (30May14) when he was
quizzed about the embarrassing mishap during an appearance on
breakfast show Good Morning America.
Asked whether the poor pitch was a publicity stunt for his new
album Animal Ambition, he stated, "Oh no, it slipped! It slipped
out of my hand... I'm not a professional pitcher, I make
music."
He then admitted the throw had been so bad, he was even teased
about it by a police officer: "I actually got pulled over by New
York City police... He pulled me over and I said, 'I got my
license, right?', because I was a little nervous when he pulled me
over. I was, like, 'Oh no, what did I do?' and then he said, 'You
know that pitch was terrible...'"
50 Cent's bad week continued during his GMA appearance in Central
Park after technical difficulties blighted the start of his
performance. The rapper hit the stage for a rendition of his new
song Smoke with singer Trey Songz, but a faulty microphone caused
him trouble for the first few seconds of the set.
However, the sound issue was quickly resolved and the 38 year old
went to perform his hits In Da Club, Just A Lil Bit and Big Rich
Town with singer Joe.