The Game says that at the height of his feud with 50 Cent — long before they officially squashed things in 2016 — Michael Jackson actually tried to step in and make peace.
Speaking with Shannon Sharpe, the Compton rapper revisited the surreal moment when the King of Pop attempted to broker a truce.
“It don’t even sound like it’s true, man,” he told Sharpe, recalling how Jackson’s team reached out to him in 2005 following the release of his debut album The Documentary.
Game explained that after sitting on hold for nearly 30 minutes, Michael finally got on the line — but didn’t sound anything like the high-pitched voice the world was used to.
“He sounded like a regular dude,” Game said, adding that Jackson praised him and Fif for their hit The Documentary track “How We Do,” calling the song “magical.”
“He probably said it was magical about 30 times,” Game joked, adding that Jackson seemed genuinely confused about why he and 50 Cent were feuding.
Jackson then allegedly pitched an idea: “I got an idea. We should fix the beef on my album.” Game told Sharpe that’s the moment Michael “lost” him — and he hung up. He’s shared the same story before, including in a 2019 interview with HipHopDX.
The tension between 50 and Game originally exploded in 2003 after Game signed to Dr. Dre’s Aftermath label, where 50 was the reigning star. At the time, the Queens rapper was riding high off his No. 1 debut, 2003’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’, the year’s best-selling album.
Once Game joined the label, Aftermath began shaping his debut and enlisted 50 to help — and that’s when things started skidding toward conflict.
By late 2004, anticipation for The Documentary was massive, especially because its first two singles, “Westside Story” and “How We Do,” featured 50. “How We Do” would later peak at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
But the growing spotlight on Game reportedly left 50 feeling overshadowed. His sophomore album, The Massacre, was pushed from a February to a March 2005 release to make room for Game’s rollout. The Documentary arrived in January 2005, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and featured 50 on three tracks — including the hit single “Hate It or Love It.”
By August 2016, the two finally appeared to let the feud go during a moment caught on video in a Los Angeles strip club.
“I fuck with 50,” Game said at the time. “What happened, that shit was 12 years ago. N****s ain’t on that shit… It’s 2016. Ain’t nobody on that old shit.” Although they had publicly declared a “truce” back in March 2005, this reunion felt like the real deal.
Still, their current relationship is unclear. In January, 50 mocked Game after a viral clip showed Jimmy Iovine walking past him courtside at a Lakers game without acknowledgment.
“LOL! The man didn’t even look at him,” Fif wrote on Instagram. “Get this guy out of here, 50 wrote the records. LMFAO.”
