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50 Cent apologizes for mocking airport worker with autism in viral video

CINCINNATI — Rapper 50 Cent is apologizing for posting a video accusing a Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport worker with autism of being high.

According to WKRC in Cincinnati, Andrew Farrell, the teenage contract worker who was featured in the viral video on 50 Cent's Instagram and Twitter accounts, has social anxiety and mild autism.

"While the incident at the airport resulted from an unfortunate misunderstanding, I am truly sorry for offending the young man," the rapper told Page Six in a statement. "It was certainly not my intent to insult him or the disability community, which is a source of great strength in America. I have apologized personally to him and his family."

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WKRC reports that Farrell was on his way to clean a gate when he was approached by 50 Cent, who made appearances in Ohio last weekend.

The TV station interviewed the young man and his parents.

“It hurts to watch that. It’s painful,” said Farrell’s stepfather, Ken Kramer. “You come up, and you start talking to a kid you know nothing about. That’s not fair. That’s a slap in the face.”

According to TMZ, the family has hired an attorney.

The Ruderman Family Foundation, a national leader in disability inclusion, has denounced the rapper.

“50 Cent’s recent taunting of Andrew Farrell, a young man with disabilities, at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is reprehensible and has no place in our society,” said Jay Ruderman, president of the foundation. “I’m sure 50 Cent would not want anyone to publicly humiliate his friends and family in the manner he humiliated this young man with disabilities who was just minding his business while doing his job.”

>> Click here to watch the news report