50 Cent is no stranger at all to being the public bad guy, but this week he found himself in a unique kind of trouble when he was criticized for making fun of an autistic man in an embarrassing video. Although most people were left shaking their heads at 50’s goof up, the rap mogul seems to have inspired someone even more hated than him, former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli, to do something kind for the autistic community.
As previously reported, the drama all started this week when 50 posted and then deleted a video on Instagram of him making fun of a 19-year-old Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport worker named Andrew Farrell as he followed the young man and claimed he was high on drugs.
“Look at him. What type of s— you think he took before he came to work today?” 50 said aloud. He high as a motherf—er right here in the airport. His pupils dilated and everything … This new generation is crazy. It’s crazy,” 50 said to Farrell.
It wasn’t until after 50 posted the video that he learned the young man is autistic and suffers from Aspergers. As expected, the internet proceeded to blast 50 for mocking Farrell.
Farrell’s family also spoke with an attorney about possibly suing the rapper over the video, but 50 issued a public apology to them and Farrell for his mistake.
“It was certainly not my intent to insult him or the disability community, which is a source of great strength in America. I have apologized personally to him and his family,” 50 wrote.
However, Farrell’s family still asked that 50 cough up $10K to donate to the organization Autism Speaks. As of yet, there’s still no report of 50 giving any money to the autism advocacy group. But media reports claim that Autism Speaks will still receive a major donation from Shkreli.
For those that don’t remember, Shkreli came under fire last year when he made the decision as CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals to raise the price of the HIV treatment Daraprim from $13.50 a tablet to $750 per tablet. At the end of 2015, Shkreli was arrested by the FBI and charged with securities fraud and he was subsequently removed as CEO of the company.
Despite his villainous image, sources say that Shkreli was moved by Farrell’s story because he has a number of family members and close friends who are autistic. Farrell’s family attorney revealed that Shkreli initially wanted to donate $10K to them, but the family decided to start a GoFundMe campaign instead and Shkreli agreed to seed it with his donation.
Shkreli reportedly plans on using his companies for the good of the autistic community by developing new treatments for autism patients.
Well, color us shocked by this news, but we definitely give kudos to Shkreli for finally doing the right thing.
