Posted by Faizon Love opened a giant can of worms during a recent interview with Comedy Hype when he revealed he was paid just $2,500 to shoot the 1995 Friday film. Co-star Ice Cube became a social media target, with many outliers accusing the N.W.A pioneer of “robbing” Love.
Cube firmly denied the allegation and quickly found support from comedian Michael Blackson who appeared in the 2000 sequel Next Friday. Now, rapper Problem has come to his defense. On Thursday (December 30), Problem posted a series of tweets to his Instagram account, praising Ice Cube and DJ Pooh for giving several then-unknown actors a shot.
“a huge rap star and his dj/producer took a chance on unknown comedians/actors and made them stars,” he wrote. “Not once, not twice, but three times. all this trying to devalue what Ice did for black & brown comedians is blasphemy. thank you @ice cube. n-ggas gon n-g.”
View this post on Instagram
Faizon Love, who said he’d resurrect his character “Big Worm” for a fourth installment of the Friday franchise even if Ice Cube couldn’t pay him, stood up for the BIG3 co-founder, too.
“First of all I not only consider Ice Cube a comrade but my brother and I’m still a fan I think he’s One of the dopest n-ggas to ever touch a mic,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “I guess it’s a slow news week so let me say what I got paid is a moot point, it was the price of admission to a game. I have zero regrets.
“Actually, I want to take this time to thank Cube Dj Pooh and Felix Gary Grey for letting me be apart of such an iconic picture. I truly have nothing but love For these brothers.”
View this post on Instagram
Friday was released in 1995 and ultimately became a sleeper hit. The film’s success spawned two sequels: Next Friday (2000) and Friday After Next (2002). The fourth installment, tentatively titled Last Friday, has been in the works for several years, but production issues and the deaths of three of its cast members — John “Pops” Witherspoon, Tiny “Deebo” Lister Jr. and Anthony “Ezal” Johnson — have complicated its completion.
Ice Cube Snaps On Twitter After Faizon Love Disses ‘Friday’ Actor Pay
During Witherspoon’s funeral in November 2019, Cube explained why it hasn’t been made, saying, “I really apologize to my friend for not getting the next Friday movie made,” he said. “It’s not my fault. Some dumbass people in Hollywood at New Line Cinema, if you wanna … you can email Toby Emmerich and Richard Brener if you feel like I feel. Yeah, you punks had two scripts and you didn’t wanna do them.
“That’s the real. We were tryin’ to make that movie for years and we couldn’t get it done. We got the other three and we got our memories.”