Ladies man Omari Hardwick finally admits he twice had to borrow money from notorious loan shark 50 Cent because his “Power” pay was so paltry.
Hardwick’s personal finances were in stark contrast to his iconic character, James “Ghost” St. Patrick in the Starz blockbuster drama series. Ghost was a suave and arrogant criminal who boasted a lavish lifestyle borne from being the leader of a violent drug syndicate in New York.
But during the 1st and 2nd seasons, Hardwick had to swallow his pride and get temporary help from the often ruthless rapper who has often subjected his beneficiaries to international humiliation if they’re tardy in paying him back.
“He gave me $20,000 and the next summer he gave me $23,000,” he said on the ‘Pivot’ podcast. Hardwick added that Fifty came to his fiscal rescue because he “adores” his wife, Jennifer “Jae” Hardwick, and the couple’s kids. “He might like them more than me. It was absolutely given in a way of, like, you know take care of the family bro, use that.”
“I think he (50 Cent) forever just really really respects the s— out of me for that, we just not taught that in our community,” Omari shared. “Barely do we pay anybody back. So once we’re hit up for money, and I am financially obviously stable at this point, once we’re hit up for money we don’t expect it back.
Hardwick added that he was very proud to pay Curtis Jackson his money back, plus interest.
“So for me to give it back to 50 with interest, I was just so proud to be able to do that.”
When Hardwick was asked if he ever saw the kind of dividends that were commensurate with his ultra-popular character, Ghost,” Hardwick answered in the negative.
“I still haven’t made what I should have made. I still never made the money—no, the money, I never made what I should have made. Never,” Harwick said. “Period. It’s happening now, finally.”
Fortunes have since changed for Hardwick. He is now cashing in on his enhanced industry cachet through movies Sorry to Bother You, Army of the Dead, and Nobody’s Fool. On the TV front, Hardwick is starring alongside Toni Collette in the Netflix thriller “Pieces of Her” and is in the forthcoming animated “Army of the Dead” spinoff “Lost Vegas.”
