Los Angeles, Jan 25 (IANS): Rapper 50 Cent has insisted that his impressive weight loss is the result of hard work and not the slimming drug Ozempic.

The rapper took to his Instagram page to address rumours that his new slimmer physique was due to taking Ozempic, reports Mirror.co.uk.

The rapper, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, admitted that he has lost 18 kg only by working out and performing nightly on his recent world tour.

As per Mirror.co.uk, the award-winning chart star, 48, spoke to his 30.8 million followers while sitting in his car after a sea of comments on his recent posts speculating about how he had slimmed down his physique.

He said: "You want to talk about weight loss, I was in the gym, I was working the f*** out man. They're gonna say it's Ozempic; I was running, I was running, I was doing what I had to do, you've seen me on tour, I run around. I was 253 pounds, I've came down, I'm 210 right now - tell me how you feel about it; you tell me how you feel about it later.”

Meanwhile, an insider told Page Six that his weight loss was the result of a "rigorous" eight-month fitness kick which saw him going to the gym "three hours a day, every day.”

He wanted to get fit in preparation for his Final Lap tour which got underway in July last year. The ‘Candy Shop’ rapper was previously taunted on social media over his weight after he performed at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show on February 13, 2022 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California.

He was joined on stage by an array of fellow rap icons including Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar as they performed in the iconic slot.