Fat Joe’s Feuds with 50 Cent and Jay-Z Cost Him Millions and Sneaker Deals

Fat Joe recently revealed that his explosive 2005 feud with 50 Cent and Jay-Z cost him a multimillion-dollar sneaker deal with Air Jordan and Reebok. Clashes at the MTV VMAs and Harlem's Rucker Park led to both the giant brands crashing the deal. 

"I was the first rapper with a Jordan sneaker. Not only that, designed by Michael Jordan," Fat Joe told Joe La Puma on an episode of Sneaker Shopping with Complex's Joe La Puma. 

A Jordan executive called him after the 50 Cent feud at the MTV VMAs: "Yo, Big Joe, you know, I'm not with controversy. Maybe we look at this in the future."

Reebok also pulled out due to his feud with Jay-Z. "Reebok had approached me and was like, 'Yo, we want to do a sneaker with you for millions,'" Fat Joe said. "They shut it down. They was just like, 'Yo, we won't do business with you if you give this guy a sneaker," 

The feud with Jay-Z began in 2004 at Rucker Park's Entertainment Basketball Classic when Jay-Z's team jumped the championship against Fat Joe's squad. Fat Joe struck back in his "Lean Back," hit rapping, "I don't wanna speak about the Rucker / Not even Pee Wee Kirkland could imagine this / My n***a didn't have to play to win the championship."

At the 2005 VMAs, 50 Cent kept taunting Fat Joe, who responded live on stage: "I feel safe with all the police protection courtesy of G-Unit." 

This public exchange of words led Air Jordan to cancel the deal.

After their friend Chris Lighty died in 2012, Fat Joe and 50 Cent made peace. By 2016, Fat Joe and Jay-Z had squashed their beef. Jay-Z even jumped on Fat Joe's "All the Way Up" remix.