Fat Joe recently opened up about how conflicts with other artists impacted his career and cost him major business deals. On a recent episode of Complex’s Sneaker Shopping, the Bronx rapper revealed that both Air Jordan and Reebok deals fell apart in the mid-2000s because of his well-known feuds with 50 Cent and Jay-Z.
He explained that a confrontation with 50 Cent at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards played a role in Air Jordan passing on a collaboration. Fat Joe says Michael Jordan personally called him to explain the situation. “Yo, Big Joe, you know, I’m not with controversy. Maybe we look at this in the future,” Jordan reportedly told him.
Reebok, which had offered a multi-million-dollar sneaker deal, also withdrew after an executive realized Fat Joe was not on good terms with Jay-Z. “Reebok had approached me and was like, ‘Yo, we want to do a sneaker with you for millions.’ I caught the squeeze play cause Hov was over there and 50 Cent,” he said. “They shut it down. They was just like, ‘Yo, we won’t do business with you if you give this guy a sneaker.’ That’s part of the karma. It’s part of the ins and outs. I’ve done it to other guys. It came back to me.”
Outside of business setbacks, Fat Joe is also facing legal challenges. In June, his former hype-man Terrance Dixon filed a $20 million lawsuit, claiming he witnessed the rapper engage in illegal behavior, including sleeping with minors and using intimidation tactics. Fat Joe has denied the allegations and addressed them on social media. “I’ve never let anyone on the streets extort me, so how would I ever let a crooked attorney and a coward ex-hype man extort me?? I’m from the Bronx!”
These experiences highlight the costs of high-profile rivalries and legal battles in the music industry. Fat Joe’s story shows that even for seasoned artists, the choices made in conflicts and personal relationships can have lasting effects on both career opportunities and personal life.