50 Cent, known for his sharp online jabs, recently poked fun at claims that protesters outside the courthouse wearing “Free Diddy” T-shirts were being paid to do so. With Diddy facing mounting legal challenges, 50 Cent turned his attention to this new twist: reports that these supporters were paid \$20 an hour to stand outside in matching shirts.
The rapper shared a viral video circulating on social media showing a crowd outside the Manhattan federal courthouse all wearing the same “Free Puffy” tees. The original clip, posted by Emilie Hagen, claimed that protesters were offered \$20 an hour just to wear the shirts.
50 Cent jumped in with a sarcastic comment on Instagram, joking that the pay was so good he might consider joining the protest himself. “Diddy paying people to wear Free Diddy shirts is diabolical. But \$20 an hour ain’t bad. I might go throw that on for an hour tomorrow,” he wrote.
In the video, a bystander explained someone approached them with an offer to wear the shirt for pay, mentioning something called “Diddy coin,” though it wasn’t clear what that meant. The bystander said, “He told me it’s for a ‘Diddy coin,’ so I’m not really sure what that is. They just tried to pay me \$20 to wear a ‘Free Puffy’ shirt. The lady right there just kept convincing me to wear the shirt and I’m like, ‘I’m good.’”
So far, there’s no proof that Diddy or his team organized or paid for the protest. Still, the timing and uniform look of the group have sparked plenty of online speculation and conspiracy talk.
