50 Cent Says Donnie Wahlberg Inspired Him to Host His New True-Crime Show ’50 Ways to Catch a Killer’ (Exclusive)

He’s made a killing in so many arenas, 50 Cent’s latest project makes total sense: The actor/producer/hip-hop legend/entrepreneur hosts Fox Nation’s new six-episode true-crime series 50 Ways to Catch a Killer. The multihyphenate (real name Curtis Jackson), 50, spoke to Us Weekly about his latest venture.

Are you a big true crime fan?

Yeah, I’ve always appreciated [it, especially] when I’m traveling and away from the apps on my television. I try to figure out what’s happening in the show before it happens. The cases I was able to pick [for my series] had facts that were stranger than fiction, and I was wrong a lot about what was going on.

Is there a certain type of story that resonates with you?

When you see a person is missing from their spouse. There’s a case in the 
[early episodes], a woman got engaged … and then they didn’t know where she was. I immediately thought it was the husband. He was living a double life married to someone else.

This is turning into that cheater show!

The intensity is almost Snapped.

What surprised you most about the behind-the-scenes work of solving these homicides?

The research process. Following the detective, you don’t know exactly where the information is gonna come from. Some of it’s gut instinct, some of it’s clues or forensics that give them a direction. Watching that unfold is exciting to me.

Is there a true crime host you think of when you’re doing 50 Ways? Maybe Donnie Wahlberg, who does Very Scary People?

He’s really where I saw it and got into it. Because I worked with him [in 2008’s Righteous Kill], it was interesting to see him doing something different, out of the scripted characters. I think it’s the delivery — who’s [hosting] definitely affects how you watch.

You’re also the father of a teenager, Sire. Have these stories made you reflect on that role?

Oh, yes. He just turned 13, but he’s a really young 13. He doesn’t know this stuff. I’m always conscious of these things, because he’s gonna run into it. So I gotta have his skin be tough enough to withstand the things that will come.

Speaking of your son, you named your wine and spirits company after him. What’s going on with Sire Spirits right now? 

I have 11 professional sports team that I partner with to be the official champagne and cognac, with Branson Cognac and Le Chemin du Roi champagne: the Houston Rockets, the Houston Texans, the Astros, the Sacramento Kings, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Golden Knights in Las Vegas, the hockey team, the Browns, the Commanders in D.C., the Indiana Pacers. … There’s a connection with professional athletes and music culture because to take their mind off of how much they had to work to perform on that level, they would play the music. It feels crazy sometimes, because I’m like, “Yo, I never met him,” when they’re like, “No, he said he has to meet you before you leave.” I’m meeting players — it’s like, I’m a fan of his, he’s a star player.

Because you have an award-winning cognac, explain to Us: What’s the classiest way to drink cognac?

You know what, people in Cognac [France, where this type of brandy originated] think the classiest way to drink it is to sniff it and [when] you drink it, you’re moving it around [in your mouth] so you can taste the oak barrel. But in America, we drink cocktails, so its formula is a little different.

What is the trashiest 50 Cent–not approved way to drink cognac?

Out the bottle in the street.

The final two episodes of 50 Ways to Catch a Killer stream Tuesday, September 30, on Fox Nation.