‘Don’t glamourise cybercrime’ — 50 Cent asked to halt proposed Hushpuppi series

Over 100 people have signed an online petition asking 50 Cent, the US rapper, to halt his proposed series on Hushpuppi, the internet fraudster.

On November 7, Hushpuppi was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison in the United States for money laundering.

A few days after the sentencing, 50 Cent announced his plan to produce a series about the Nigerian socialite.

“For my scammers I gotta do this one, Hushpuppy series coming soon!” he had written while sharing a photo of Hushpuppi.

But in the petition, Samuel Effiong, the initiator, expressed his disappointment at the rapper for “attempting to glamourise cybercrime and tank Nigeria’s battered image” with the proposed movie.

“I am disappointed by 50 Cent’s recent announcement about a planned movie series on Ramon Olorunwa Abbas also known as Hushpuppi, a convicted felon currently serving 11 years in a maximum security prison in the U.S over cybercrime or “yahoo yahoo” as it is popularly called in Nigeria,” it reads.

“This proposed series will further tank Nigeria’s battered image as it will reinforce stereotypes about all Nigerians being scammers.

“Furthermore, this plan would not only make Hushpuppi rich, as he would have to be paid for rights, but it would also encourage and glamourise cybercrime. This has to be stopped. Join me to call on 50Cent to stop the Hushpuppi series.”

As of the time of this report, 105 people have signed the petition which started about six days ago.

50 Cents wouldn’t be the first to consider making a movie off Hushpuppi’s brush with global law enforcement.

In 2021, Will Packer Productions, a US company, and EbonyLife Studios, owned by Nigeria’s Mo Abudu, acquired rights to make a movie based on Bloomberg’s article about the self-confessed international fraudster.