When 50 appeared during Dr. Dre’s Super Bowl halftime performance packing a few extra pounds, the jokes came flying. A seasoned vet of the internet troll game himself, 50 took the roasts in stride, and even re-posted a few of his faves. Then, he used his Instagram account to explain why he wasn’t bothered by the burns after creating his own merch of the meme-worthy moment.
“I call this teasing me,” he wrote. “They’re just teasing me because they know I can drop the weight. that’s why I laugh with them. Fat-shaming only applies when you’re ashamed of your fat.”
For what it’s worth, it should be common knowledge that 50 was a little rolly-polly when he first appeared on the scene in 1999 with the attention-grabbing “How To Rob” — which was itself an introduction to his trollish sense of humor, as he name-checked over 50 celebrities and hip-hop personalities that he would be more than happy to mug on the subway. But, of course, by the time of his re-introduction to the public at large with “In Da Club” — the video for which he reproduced during his Super Bowl performance — he’d slimmed down greatly, presenting an imposing, muscular physique with which he’s been associated for much of his career.
And he’s right about one thing: He certainly can lose the weight — seemingly at will. In 2011, he was able to drop 54 pounds for his cancer-riddled role in All Things Fall Apart, so he’s no stranger to physical fluctuations.