As Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith's explosive "Red Table Talk" episode was breaking Facebook's 24-hour viewing record late on Friday, July 10, 50 Cent took advantage of the opportunity to mock Will.
On the latest edition of Jada's Facebook Watch show, she brought herself to the "red table" to address singer August Alsina's claims that they had an affair — and that he had Will's blessing to do so.
Although reps for Will and Jada initially denied that the actress had an extra-marital romance, the couple explained that they'd come to a breaking point in their marriage and had quietly separated, though they did not plan to divorce.
During that time, Jada, 48, said, she "got into an entanglement" with the then-23-year-old musician. Will, 51, pushed her to clarify the terms of that "entanglement," and she acknowledged it had been "a relationship."
Cue 50 Cent, who chimed in on social media with what appeared to be a series of private Instagram messages, though given the jokey posts he and others have shared about the matter since, they could have also been the work of some Photoshop magic.
"Yo Will you alright over there?" the messages show 50 asking Will.
"Yes, I'm cool, I appreciate your concern my brother," Will purportedly responds.
"But why did she tell you that s— on a show for everyone to see?" 50 asked.
Will explained, "We broke up so she did her and I did me," and 50 promptly responded that Jada then "said only SHE can [give] permission for somebody" to have sex with her, using a vaguely X-rated term in reference to Jada's comment that Will never "gave permission" to August to be with his wife because only Jada can give permission for anything she's involved in.
…To which the former "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" star allegedly replied, "F— you 50."
"Wait, what I do?" 50 asked at the end of the exchange.
Within a day, the post had more than 580,000 likes, including one from rapper Nelly, whom the Daily Mail noticed gave his approval by commenting that the (maybe-real) chat deserves the "BEST COVO [sic] OF 2020 AWARD!!!!"
Jada and Will tied the knot in 1997. Since then, they've weathered numerous rounds of split rumors.
According to the couple's rehash of the events that preceded Jada's involvement with August, they were "done" and had decided to separate for a "period of time" when August, a friend of their son Jaden's, looked to Jada for help with "his mental state."
"The outpouring for him from our family was initially about his health. We found all those different resources to help pull him through, and from there you and I were going through a very difficult time," said Jada.
She added that "as time went on," her relationship with August became romantic.
"I was in a lot of pain, and I was very broken. In the process of that relationship I definitely realized that you can't find happiness outside yourself," she said.
"I just wanted to feel good. It had been so long since I felt good. … And it was really a joy to just help heal somebody. … Through that particular journey, I learned so much about myself and was able to really confront a lot of emotional immaturity, emotional insecurity and I was really able to do some really deep healing."
She also dispelled any thoughts about whether August was a "home wrecker," saying he was not.
"Contrary to what people may believe, I am not a troublemaker. I don't like drama. Drama actually makes me nauseous," August said during his appearance on "The Breakfast Club," where he discussed his relationship with Jada, whom he said he still loves.
"I have lost money, friendships, relationships behind it and I think it is because people don't necessarily know the truth. But I have never done anything wrong," he noted.
On "Red Table Talk," both Will and Jada later agreed they'd long since moved past the place where they'd been when Jada was seeing August.
Said Jada, "We have really gotten to that new place of unconditional love."
The enormously popular episode garnered more than 50 million views in less than a day, surpassing the previous Facebook Watch show record, which was set with Jordyn Woods' appearance on "Red Table Talk" in 2019, when she addressed claims she'd hooked up with Tristan Thompson, the father of Khloe Kardashian's daughter.