/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/326W3CXVLNFTVMDPUMZ6RQSAUQ.png "Mayor Rick Kriseman tweeted his displeasure over the lack of precautions taken at a crowded Friday night Super Bowl party hosted by rapper 50 Center in a hanger at Albert Whitted Airport. City officials say they're investigating the incident.")
ST. PETERSBURG — Mayor Rick Kriseman is beefin’ with 50 Cent.
The rapper-actor-entrepreneur was the headliner for a private Super Bowl 55 party in a hangar at Albert Whitted Airport on Friday night. But photos posted the day after by tabloid website extraordinaire TMZ show a crowded, mostly-maskless event held amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The mayor tweeted his displeasure Saturday and suggested that fines may be imminent.
“This isn’t how we should be celebrating the Super Bowl,” Kriseman wrote. “It’s not safe or smart. It’s stupid. We’re going to take a very close look at this, and it may end up costing someone a lot more than 50 cent.”
The mayor’s spokesman told the Tampa Bay Times in an email that city officials are investigating the party and the role of the airport management company. However, no information will be released until next week.
Celebrities such as Curtis “50 Cent/Fiddy” Jackson and DJ’s Diplo and Steve Aoki are being paid to host Super Bowl events across the Tampa Bay area.
This St. Petersburg event with 50 Cent and Tampa’s DJ Fresh was supposed to be “limited capacity” with masks required. TMZ reported that admission started at $85 to $7,000 for a table. What instead transpired is what TMZ called a “COVID-oblivious” event where masks were sparse.
For you trivia buffs, Saturday was the 18th anniversary of 50 Cent’s debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin’, the best-selling U.S. album of 2003 (it lost the Grammy for best rap album to Outkast’s Speakerboxxx/The Love Below.)
TMZ also reported that DJ Steve Aoki headlined a Friday night pool party at the WTR Pool & Grill at The Godfrey Hotel Tampa off the Courtney Campbell Causeway. That party was also well-attended and mostly maskless, TMZ reported, and Aoki sprayed guests with champagne.
The pandemic guidelines for Hillsborough and Pinellas counties and St. Petersburg and Tampa are all similar and call for patrons to wear masks in businesses. In St. Petersburg, Kriseman issued an executive order mandating masks.
However, Knight Global Entertainment, which owns and operates popular downtown bars such as Jannus Live, MacDinton’s Irish Pub and the Pelican Pub, recently argued in court that the mayor’s order is unenforceable. The company is fighting 13 citations issued after the city says it caught bar employees failing to to wear masks and enforce social distancing.
50 Cent was scheduled to host another party, a Super Bowl 55 watch party on Sunday, in the Rox rooftop bar atop Tampa’s Current Hotel off N Rocky Point Drive.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/X6J6Q27TTNAGLLLDIFPLNBLL7I.JPG "Spend your days with Hayes")
Spend your days with Hayes
Subscribe to our free Stephinitely newsletter
You’re all signed up!
Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.
Explore all your options• • •
Tampa Bay Times Super Bowl 55 coverage
ON TOM BRADY: How the QB’s devotion to detail led the Bucs to Super Bowl 55
TUNE IN EARLY: If you want to see Super Bowl 55’s hero, watch the pregame ceremony
SUPER BOWL IN A PANDEMIC: How Tampa Bay is handling Super Bowl and coronavirus
WHO’S GOING?: Meet the fans who spend $20,000 on Super Bowl tickets
MORE BUCS PHOTOS: Follow the Tampa Bay Times Bucs coverage on Instagram
BUCS NEWSLETTER: Sign up for the Bucs RedZone newsletter with team reporter Joey Knight:
We’re working hard to bring you the latest Super Bowl news from around the Tampa Bay area. This effort takes resources to gather and update. If you haven’t already subscribed, please consider buying a digital or print subscription.
/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/tbt/2a3eea93-a4a8-4335-b557-18bf723be110.png "Jamal Thalji - Former Times Staffer")
/www.tampabay.com/resizer/1zQgwLxLHYF5flsuoBH29JuX960=/1200x675/smart/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/3C3OQUJHQ5D4NGVMSBQ2YTXPVE.JPG "Pride month events in Tampa Bay: parties, parades, concerts and more")
/www.tampabay.com/resizer/0QBkb81-EP2h9KSFkhzf6qjzcVg=/1200x675/smart/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/HBP4VOUVLFFPBLTDAXFINRRV7Q.jpg "Top Tampa Bay area events for the week of June 5-11")
/www.tampabay.com/resizer/bLVHcJ7w66A14S3Q8a4vS5vQRCc=/1200x675/smart/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/XGFD42YCTFFWHDCXVZ6V7ZIINY.jpg "24 Tampa Bay summer concerts for every type of music fan")
/www.tampabay.com/resizer/c5bZEn46xrF588VP9s2ERjP-LCI=/1200x675/smart/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/T3H3A7ZNS5B3VNJ2GZSYSEINI4.jpeg "Top Events for the Week of May 29-June 4")
/www.tampabay.com/resizer/hPs6vfY0cNkKTTk1ZDSkAT_SV74=/1200x675/smart/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/C7S4HNKXHJHIBIQAEFARBSHG4Q.jpg "St. Pete Yacht Club to be torn down, rebuilt in 5 years. Here’s why.")
/www.tampabay.com/resizer/D4uQhQ_ICnEDTAkjTA5cNnbVrRw=/1200x675/smart/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/G5HUNZ6W55GIHEZAX7SJEOJ42Y.jpg "Try these 3 iconic Florida restaurant experiences")
/www.tampabay.com/resizer/NQhLPE-6JaFc3DemrxVJBgFsa0c=/1200x675/smart/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/RNRMX4ARNFB5L3K6OUM6F3KKUQ.jpg "Rays-Red Sox game postponed by rain, to be made up Monday")
/www.tampabay.com/resizer/ygldzMOFHf7Ww0y5dveimYCpi44=/1200x675/smart/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/TOEQRSIP4VC6JDNPEVO4YQTH3Q.jpg "Rays are looking for Tyler Glasnow to go deep vs. Red Sox on Friday")
/www.tampabay.com/resizer/d_W9ekxf0XrlisbK8XqVHem8D_0=/1200x675/filters:focal(2495x1595:2505x1585)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/C2LLU2FG6YDAKQYD3CVI3U2ZWA.jpg "Stanley Cup Final between Vegas, Florida will produce first-time champ")
/www.tampabay.com/resizer/XFYLut--69OJlu2Lxeoqu7Qam_U=/1200x675/filters:focal(2145x815:2155x805)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/A3S54K76ANCMRBJIBB5UG6UT6Q.jpg "East Lake High’s Ryan Slater helps Florida baseball to super regionals")