Fat Joe says he lost millions after his speaker deals with Nike and Reebok fell through

Photo Credit: Danilo Capece

Fat Joe says two sneaker deals with Nike and Reebok fell through due to his high-profile rap beefs with Jay-Z and 50 Cent, losing him millions.

Rapper Fat Joe has revealed he lost out on millions when two lucrative sneaker deals fell through thanks to his high-profile rap beefs with Jay-Z and 50 Cent. In a new episode of “Sneaker Shopping” with Joe La Puma, Fat Joe discussed his Reebok and Jordan deals that never came to fruition.

“I was the first rapper with a Jordan sneaker,” he said. “Not only that, designed by Michael Jordan.” He added that the model was either going to be a Jordan 3 or 4.

But after a tense moment between Joe and 50 Cent at the 2005 MTV VMAs, Jordan opted not to work with him. Joe said he remembered receiving a phone call from a brand executive, telling him their decision to bow out.

Around the same time, his Reebok deal also fell through, thanks to his ongoing feud with Jay-Z.

“Reebok had approached me and was like, ‘Yo, we want to do a sneaker with you for millions,’” said Joe. “I caught the squeeze play ‘cause Hov was over there and 50 Cent.” He recalled the head of Reebok calling him to cancel the deal. “He said, ‘Yo, I ain’t know you not cool with Hov.’”

Joe was famously beefing with both 50 Cent and Jay-Z in 2004 and 2005. It’s unclear what sparked the feud, but many point to increased tensions on the basketball court. In 2004, Jay’s team forfeited to Joe’s at the New York City Entertainment Basketball Classic when they didn’t show up for the championship game. That led to Joe firing a shot on his single, “Lean Back.”

Both feuds cooled within a few years. Joe and 50 Cent began to reconcile following the death of their mutual friend, Chris Lighty, in 2012. In 2016, Joe and Jay posed for a photo op during Beyoncé’s Formation tour, and Jay featured on a remix of Joe and Remy Ma’s “All the Way Up” shortly thereafter.