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Don’t Believe The Hype: “Power” Showrunner Says 50 Cent Faked Indignance Over Nude Scene
Pretty sure you guys remember how 50 Cent was acting up on social media last Fall during the last season of “Power” claiming that the show’s producers showed his man meat without his permission.
Well in a Refinery29 exclusive interview “Power” showrunner Courtney Kemp reveals that her social media beef with 50 Cent was 100% made up!
Check out some great excerpts from the interview and don’t just stop reading after the 50 Cent stuff — she has some really interesting things to say about having it all and being black and female in Hollywood.
On her made up beef with 50 Cent:
““It’s all bullsh**! 50 and I are extremely close, so all that social media drama? It’s just for the show. People truly believed that he did not know his dick was going to be on camera. I couldn’t believe it! Do you know how long we had to prepare for that shot? Of course he knew. The whole thing just gave us so much more buzz and helped me realize how we can use social media to our advantage. 50 Cent is a brilliant marketer.”
50’s known for trolling and leveraging his social media for popularity so is anyone actually surprised at this big reveal?
We were a bit disappointed to hear some of Kemp’s revelations though — especially the next one about being a working mom.
On choosing between family and her career:
What I’m about to say won’t be popular, but it’s true: If being a television showrunner is the job you want, and you are a woman, I would not suggest you have children. The reality is that you just can not do both well. There’s this idea that you can have it all, but in my opinion, you can’t — not if you’re a perfectionist. If I weren’t a showrunner, I’d be a much more accomplished mother; if I were not a mother, I would be a much more accomplished showrunner. I have to be okay with getting a B in both.”
We do love that she kept it real about Hollywood needing more variety. As liberal as everyone wants to belive the entertainment industry is, it still has it’s shortcomings.
On diversity in Hollywood:
“If you are other, you don’t think twice about hiring people who are other. At my rehearsal today, there was a white female writer, a Black male director, a Latina actress, gay people, straight people. That is diversity. And it’s sad that someone will look at that and think it’s revolutionary.”
“Power would not exist if Greg Berlanti, a white gay guy, didn’t hire me. Why did he hire some random Black girl? Because he thought I was talented. That’s it, plain and simple. We just need more people like him.”
On being a female showrunner:
I think people assume the person behind Power is a person of color,” Kemp says as she plucks a brush from her overflowing makeup bag to apply bronzer before a photo shoot; the word “Power” peeks out from the top corner of her jacket. “It’s the woman part that throws them. That’s been the harder part — as a woman, to be listened to, to be taken seriously, to not be mansplained.”
On being labeled:
“I am a Black woman, and I’m proud of that, but as a showrunner, I want to think about what makes me unique beyond my race…I think so much of the conversation amongst writers right now is, ‘I need to be a strong Black voice, I need to be a strong Black female voice.’ I want to be a strong voice, period.”
Bravo to her for being that great example. We love to see sisters like Kemp leading by example.
Now this next one may be a bit hard for the “Power” fans to take — so brace yourselves.
On the show’s motivation:
“A lot of people think this is a show about Ghost. But this is a show about power, plain and simple. There are some good characters, and there some nefarious characters. Men and women — all trying to claw their way to the top. That’s why the show is called Power, not ‘Ghost.’ Because if the show was called Ghost? We could never kill him.”
Okay now we’re worried. They wouldn’t really kill Ghost would they?
WENN/STARZ
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