“Maturity in hip hop” - Internet reacts as Joe Budden and 50 Cent embrace at Knicks game following beef

Joe Budden and 50 Cent have seemingly cast their differences aside.

The pair were spotted at the New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons' first 2025 playoffs game. While the rapper sat on a courtside seat, Budden was right behind him. Photos of the same went viral online, sparking curiosity among fans who thought the encounter must have been awkward.

However, 50 Cent took to Instagram to confirm that it was all good between them:

“I ran into Joe at the game,” he wrote. “He said I don’t need therapy No MORE 🤨.”

For the unversed, the feud between the pair began this year when Budden suggested that the rapper is in need of therapy. In response, the latter shot back with a profanity-laden remark.

Fans have since begun reacting to the encounter with appreciation, with many lauding the pair for mending their ways. Here's how one fan reacted on X, for instance:

"Maturity in hip hop >>>>>>>>>"

The comments didn't end there:

"We getting 50 on the pod next!!" someone posited.

"50 told him “if you take it there, im taking it further"," another jokingly suggested.

"Naw don’t peace it up, we want that content," one user jested.

"50 hugging Joe Budden while sitting next to Fat Joe… a lot of talk about 50 not maturing but there was a time where this would NEVER happen. Ja is a different level of beef. Can’t say 50 hasn’t grown though," yet another chimed in.

Even more chimed in with their opinions:

"Fat Joe there so you know he was gonna play peacemaker lmao," one user noted.

"This is sick like I get being in this community to discuss the pod but yal like really invested in him. Like true fans of the person beyond the pod," another pointed out.

"Two trolls probably just laughing at the whole situation," someone else suggested.

"They been cool. Yall look too deep into the narratives when they just jokes," yet another claimed.

Users were seemingly thrilled that the pair is cordial.

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50 Cent and Joe Budden's spat explored:

Just this February 2025, Joe Budden mentioned 50 on his eponymous show. At the time, he claimed that the rapper and Kanye West “need therapy.”

“Hip Hop is the new meaning for ‘I need therapy,’” he said. “Kanye West needs therapy. 50 Cent needs therapy. I don’t care if you agree with the rationale. And 50 is 50. He gon’ stand in it. He gon’ stand strong in it.”

Budden was taking shots at 50's reaction to Irv Gotti's passing, as he had uploaded a photo of himself smoking a hookah pipe while next to a bogus gravestone.

“If 50 feels like that, then go smoke a cigar in the cigar room,” Budden added. “I’m not telling him how to feel. Yeah, feel like that! [But how he went about it] is wrong.”

50 Cent reacted to Joe Budden's comments with a screenshot of the YouTube video and some comments of his own:

“Stay out my mix Joe talking about I need therapy. B_itch you need to stop walking around naked. The fvck is you doing in the hallway with ya balls out PUNK!” 50 wrote, referring Budden's then-recent stalking and lewdness case, which had been dropped.

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The pair have been involved in many a public spat through the years, and in 2023, 50 Cent lauded Joe for having an unprecedented ability to beat the odds.