50 Cent is breaking his silence after a member of his touring team received a prison sentence of nearly 20 years in connection with a major drug trafficking case in the UK.
On Saturday, the rap star shared a video on Instagram reacting to the sentencing of 37-year-old Abdirahiim Hassan, who worked as the food and beverage operations manager during the Legacy Tour.
“I’m sick right now,” 50 Cent wrote as the video’s caption. “This guy is not a drug dealer; all the traveling he was doing was the tour…”
The rapper also made it clear that the post was unrelated to promoting Fightland, his UK-based Starz crime drama, which is scheduled to premiere on July 31.
Hassan, who is from Hammersmith and Fulham in London, was convicted in March on charges of conspiracy to supply Class A cocaine and possession of criminal property. On July 10, he was sentenced by Derby Crown Court to 18-and-a-half years behind bars.
According to prosecutors, Hassan played a key role in coordinating the wholesale supply of drugs for one of two criminal organizations involved in the operation. Investigators also described him as serving as “a money-launderer” for the network, BBC News reported.
Authorities alleged that between 2022 and 2025, Hassan paid £150,000 in cash into his personal bank account. During a search of his home, officers reportedly recovered £22,500 sealed in heat-packed bags. He was eventually arrested while making what investigators described as a fourth train trip to Derby, where he was allegedly collecting large sums of cash.
During the trial, Hassan’s legal team presented photos and videos of him traveling on private jets and working at U.S. tour stops, arguing he lived a “jet-setting, entourage-type lifestyle, working for an A-list musician.” Hassan, who also used the alias Samir, testified in court, but the judge described his evidence as showing “staggering arrogance and comfortable dishonesty.” Judge Jonathan Straw KC dismissed Hassan’s explanation for his visits to Derby, saying it was “all a lie,” and labeled him a “Machiavellian character, cunning, scheming and unscrupulous.”
50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, submitted two letters to the court in support of Hassan. The first, filed as part of a bail application, offered to personally provide £50,000 and requested that Hassan be released so he could continue serving in a “critical operational role” during the European leg of the Legacy Tour in July 2025. The request was ultimately rejected. A second letter was later submitted during the sentencing phase as mitigation.
“I write as someone who has relied on him directly in my own business and who knows his character through years of firsthand experience,” 50 wrote. “I am aware of the matter that brings Mr Hassan before the court, and I do not write to minimize its seriousness.”
The rapper also stated that Hassan’s “experience, reliability, and understanding of the work make him someone I would welcome back without hesitation,” adding that a job would be waiting for him once he is released.
Both investigators and the court emphasized that there is no indication 50 Cent had any knowledge of Hassan’s alleged criminal conduct.
The case stemmed from Operation Daybreak, an East Midlands Police investigation into a cocaine trafficking operation that ran from January 2022 through March 2025. Authorities said the network imported cocaine from South America before distributing it across Derbyshire through two organized criminal groups based in Derby. Altogether, 10 men were sentenced to a combined prison term of more than 127 years.
