Video of 50 Cent berating teen with disability, social phobia goes viral
CINCINNATI, Ohio (CNN) — Rapper 50 Cent is facing criticism after he posted video of him berating a teenager at Cincinnati’s airport.
He thought the teen was using drugs, but it turns out the young man is disabled and has a social phobia.“This new generation is crazy, they’re crazy. What’s your name?” 50 is heard saying in the video. “He high as a (bleep) right here in the airport.”
But the family of this teenager says the rapper’s release has no rhyme or reason.
“Just sickening. I mean it’s very hard to watch,” said Kent Farrell, the teen’s father.
Kent Farrell is the father of the 19-year-old seen in the video, Andrew Farrell. He says his son is not on drugs but he has a disability along with social anxiety.
“To put this out there saying my son is on drugs or whatever, that is part of his social anxiety. He’s not wanting to talk, he’s not wanting to communicate, he’s walking on, he’s doing his job,” Kent Farrell said.
Andrew’s parents say he graduated from Conner High School and were so proud when, on his own, he got the job as a janitor at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport. They’re not sure how this is going to affect him.
“The more I thought about it, the more upset I got, the more mad I got, because this could hurt him for the future,” said Amanda Kramer, Andrew’s mother.
Amanda Kramer said she doesn’t understand why 50 Cent would post the video.
“I think he needs to retract it and I would like for him to make a public apology,” she said.
The video disappeared from 50 Cent’s Twitter page but not before it went viral and is now showing up on sites all over the web. A few years ago, 50 Cent did apologize for “insensitive” tweets about autism.
Andrew’s parents say he needs to let people know Andrew is not on drugs and was simply given a bad rap.
50 Cent has been in the area several times lately signing vodka bottles as part of a promotion. He has not commented on this incident or Andrew’s parents’ reaction.