50 Cent has opened up about discovering his mother’s romantic relationships with women following her death.

The rapper, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, was eight years old when his mother, Sabrina Jackson, was murdered. He later learned that she had been in a relationship with a woman.

As a child, 50 Cent saw his mother’s female partner as a friend. His grandmother later explained that there had been more to their relationship than he had understood at the time.

50 Cent opens up about mother’s same-sex relationship

Speaking to , 50 Cent said: “When your mom has friends around, you look at them and just see friends. And how often does a woman have a female friend that she’s close to that she talks with often?”

“As a child, I just saw two women hanging out. My grandmother informed me later that there was more going on and they weren’t just friends, and I was like, ‘Oh! Now I know what that was!’”

He said the revelation never carried any stigma for him, adding: “I’m not ashamed of that in any way. I grew up around that.”

Hate It or Love It explores his feelings

On The Game’s 2005 track Hate It or Love It, 50 Cent referenced seeing his mother kiss a woman, rapping: “Coming up I was confused, my mommy kissing a girl / Confusion occurs comin’ up in the cold world.”

The rapper has also reflected on the impact of his mother’s death, explaining that he struggled to process the news as a child. Having never known his father, he said losing his mother left him facing a particularly difficult period in his early life.

50 Cent is now working on a documentary about his life, which will revisit his childhood and the traumatic experiences that shaped him, including his mother’s murder and the violence he encountered growing up.

His comments about his mother’s sexuality have attracted attention, although his previous remarks about gay men have sparked backlash.

“I ain’t into faggots. I don’t like gay people around me, because I’m not comfortable with what their thoughts are. I’m not prejudiced. I just don’t go with gay people and kick it… But women who like women, that’s cool,” he told in 2004.

Since then, he has continued to deny being homophobic and has defended Frank Ocean against criticism after the singer revealed that he had fallen in love with a man.

That said, 50 Cent previously mocked flowers sent by Sean “Diddy” Combs, describing them as “gay” amid the controversy surrounding the Netflix documentary.