Fat Joe says he nearly ran into trouble with Bruno Mars during an awards show encounter years ago.
Bruno’s background — a mix of Puerto Rican, Filipino, and Jewish heritage — has long left fans curious. Fat Joe, who’s Puerto Rican himself, said he once tried to talk to Bruno about their shared roots but was quickly brushed off by the “That’s What I Like” singer.
On the Thursday (Oct. 9) episode of his Joe and Jada podcast, the Bronx rapper recalled waiting 15 years for the chance to meet Bruno.
“You know, he’s Puerto Rican. At least that’s what they say,” Joe shared, explaining that he was “excited” to finally connect with him.
But before he got the chance, someone at the event warned him not to expect a warm welcome. “The guy next to me said, ‘You might not want to do it. He’s a fuck n***a,’” Joe recalled, admitting that the warning didn’t stop him from approaching the pop star.
“I said, ‘What? Yo, Bruno, what’s up, man?’ He goes, ‘Yo, what’s up, Joe?’ He’s there with Anderson .Paak,” Fat Joe recalled. “I’m like, ‘Yo, you Puerto Rican?’ He got up like, ‘The fuck you mean? I’m a real Puerto Rican from Bushwick, Brooklyn! Don’t ever ask me that shit in your life.’”
Though Bruno was born in Honolulu, his father, Peter Hernandez, is Puerto Rican and Jewish and originally from Brooklyn.
After the exchange, Joe said Bruno stormed off to the other side of the awards venue, leaving him stunned. “Man, broke my heart,” he admitted. “I wasn’t challenging him. Like, tell me something. Who’s your father? [I asked in] the nicest way. [We’re at an] awards [show].”
“The answer is ‘Yeah, Puerto Rican. What’s up, bro? I love Big Pun,’ something. Man. Screamed on me. Went to the other room and was mad,” Joe continued. “Bruno, if you don’t remember it, I forgive you. But you did that, brother.”
The rapper even joked that maybe he “beat up” Bruno’s dad back in the day, since the singer seemed to take the question so personally.
