Fridae

"In Da Club" 50 Cent is expected to draw the outrage of gay rights supporters as he makes known his feelings on gay men in a wide-ranging interview in the April issue of Playboy, which hits stands Friday in the US.

In the interview, the top-selling rap artist who refused to accept he was homophobic said: "I ain't into faggots. I don't like gay people around me, because I'm not comfortable with what their thoughts are," before adding he was "not prejudiced."

"I just don't go with gay people and kick it - we don't have that much in common. I'd rather hang out with a straight dude."

Predictably, he admitted to being 'accepting' of lesbians, a sentiment that is likely to be shared with most of the magazine's readership. "But women who like women, that's cool," said the rapper who's current hit "P.I.M.P." gets frequent airplay on radio and in clubs.

The star (born Curtis Jackson) is notably following in the footsteps of two other stars in his rap family, Eminem and Dr. Dre, who have each run afoul of gay-rights and civil-liberties groups with past anti-homosexual comments. However in 2001, to distance himself from the lyrics, Eminem performed a duet version of his single "Stan" with the openly gay Elton John at the Grammys ceremony. That night, he bagged three Grammys adding to the two statuettes he had won the previous year.

50 Cent had signed a US$1 million deal with Eminem's Shady Records, and Dr. Dre's Aftermath Records in 2002. 50 Cent's hit "In Da Club," the first single from Get Rich Or Die Tryin', was produced by Dr. Dre.

His comments came as he disclosed that his mother was bisexual. Later, he unapologetically explained his words, saying: "It's OK to write that I'm prejudiced. This is as honest as I could possibly be with you. When people become celebrities they change the way they speak. But my conversation with you is exactly the way I would have a conversation on the street. We refer to gay people as faggots, as homos. It could be disrespectful, but that's the facts."

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Elsewhere in the interview, 50 Cent recalled the first time he ever shot someone, getting shot nine times while in front of his grandmother's house in Queens, New York, where he was raised and his hope of building a community centre for children.

In related news, anchor and host Bill O'Reilly of the conservative Fox News Channel on Tuesday slammed Reebok International Ltd. for its ties to 50 Cent who is expected to star and co-produce an interactive sex video, according to the Boston Herald. 50 Cent, however, won't actually perform any sexual acts in the video.

O'Reilly urged Reebok to "absolutely" cut ties to 50 Cent. The sportswear giant last year inked a long-term endorsement deal with 50 Cent that included signature shoe lines and shoes for toddlers.

O'Reilly told the Herald: "Reebok should be ashamed of themselves. They're embracing a guy who's hurting children."

He added that the rapper's thuggish and sexually explicit lyrics are "a horrible influence on children."

"It's desensitising them. Ten-year-old little boys are calling 10-year-old little girls `bitches' and 'hos' (whores)."