Omari Hardwick Breaks His Silence On The “Power” Fallout — And 50 Cent Fires At Courtney Kemp Again
For years, Omari Hardwick stayed out of the public fight over how Ghost’s story ended on Power. In an Associated Press interview, the actor finally addressed the claim that series creator Courtney Kemp wanted his character written out early — and 50 Cent wasted no time using the clip to take another shot at Kemp.
AP reporter Gary Gerard Hamilton asked Hardwick directly whether he knew about 50’s claim that Kemp wanted James “Ghost” St. Patrick gone earlier than the show’s sixth and final season. “There was definitely a shift,” Hardwick said. He framed it wider than one show: “I think there’s a lot of small a**es in big seats in life trying to relegate the big a**es to small seats in life,” adding that oftentimes the most talented people are not treated the greatest. But he refused to turn it into an attack. “I never said anything, did I? That’s why I always rock with 50. I always pray for Courtney. Always. Never stopped praying for her.” He called Kemp gifted and said he can still acknowledge the gift.
50 Cent reposted the clip to his 43 million Instagram followers with the caption: “Small a** in a BIG seat, 😆 she forgot I hired her 🤷♂️ @omarihardwickofficial is a real 🥷🏾 we hit the bullseye with POWER.” The post pulled roughly 180,000 likes, and the comments filled with the demand fans have been making since 2020: bring Ghost back.
The backstory has been simmering for years. 50 has long said he fought to keep Ghost alive after Kemp wanted the character gone. Kemp has disputed his account of how Power came together while acknowledging his role in bringing the drama to television. The two have traded statements as recently as this fall — 50 told Variety he was not looking forward to working with her again, and Kemp answered that his recollection is uninformed and that she has moved on. Hardwick’s own history with the franchise is strained too: he has said his pay never matched leading one of Starz’s signature shows, and 50 later said the actor placed too much value on himself.
Hardwick gave the interview while promoting The Greatest, the Prime Video series in which he plays Cassius Clay Sr., Muhammad Ali’s father. His Bosch prequel is also set to premiere in January. His answer may be the clearest he has given on the split: he saw the shift, he kept quiet, and he is still leaving room for both sides. The fans in 50’s comments, meanwhile, left room for exactly one outcome — Ghost back on screen.
Sources: AllHipHop; Associated Press interview; HotNewHipHop; Hollywood Unlocked.
