The people who built the Power universe are not on good terms. In a new interview with Variety, 50 Cent said he has no plans to work with series creator Courtney Kemp again: “I don’t look forward to working with her ever again.” As AllHipHop reported, 50 feels Kemp lost sight of what he brought to the table, from the music he made to help pitch the show to the work he put in getting it off the ground.
Kemp pushed back on his claims about the budget and how the show was run, and she denied downplaying his role: “I have never once understated his importance in the genesis of ‘Power,’” she said. She added that she has moved on in her career.
How We Got Here
Starz picked up Power in 2013, with Kemp as creator and showrunner and 50 as executive producer. The original series ran six seasons and wrapped in 2020, with spinoffs keeping the franchise going. In 2021, Kemp signed a deal with Netflix and handed day-to-day duties on Power Book II: Ghost to Brett Mahoney, while both she and 50 kept executive producer credits. Her first Netflix series, Nemesis, has already been renewed for a second season, and a Netflix deal for the original Power is set to roll out in November.
The IAHHM Take
The truth is, Power doesn’t happen without both of them. Kemp built the world and wrote the characters. 50 brought the star power, the street credibility and that “Big Rich Town” theme that still hits the second the intro starts. It’s a shame the partnership that gave us Ghost, Tommy and Tasha is ending in public, but it’s also how Hollywood goes when two strong personalities each believe they carried the load.
With the original series about to find a new audience on Netflix, this feud is going to get more attention, not less. Who gets more credit for Power‘s success: 50 or Kemp?
Source: AllHipHop, via Variety
