It seems 50 Cent can laugh about his financial woes.
The rapper and Southpaw actor filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday, and he later posted a photo on Instagram of himself standing next to a Smart car.
"Times are hard out here LMAO," he wrote in the caption.
The idea of 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson III, driving the ultra-compact car is a comical one indeed. This is a guy who has prided himself on a fancy collection of luxury automobiles – everything from a $300,000 Lamborghini Murcielago to a Bentley Mulsanne to a pair of Chevrolet Suburbans with bombproof undercarriages, built for the Iraq war.
Jackson, 40, filed for bankruptcy three days after he was ordered to pay $5 million to a woman who sued him for releasing her sex tape online in 2009. But in an interview with E! News, he downplayed the significance of the move.
"Walt Disney has filed for bankruptcy before. Donald Trump has filed for bankruptcy," he said. "It means you're reorganizing your finances at that point. But it does stop things from moving forward that you don't want moving forward."
He also said he felt like he was a "target" for people seeking money.
"I don't want to be the bull's-eye," he said. "I don't want everybody to pick me as the guy they just come to and get astronomical claims and go through all of that. I take the precautions that any other good businessperson would take in this situation."
Appearing on The Talk Tuesday, he added, "I'm fine. I'm just going through a little legal issues. I've got some trained professionals to help me with it. So, I will get past it."