No matter your life story, trials and tribulations, you know you’re really something when Eminem portrays you in a TV show. Indeed, for Richard Wershe Jr., it must be a good day. The former FBI informant, drug-and-weapons runner, and possible political insider has a different name in the annals of history: White Boy Rick.
Eminem’s portrayal of White Boy Rick will feature prominently of the next episode of 50 Cent’s Black Mafia Family (BMF). Actually, the first look is already out. Or rather, this past weekend, it leaked, giving viewers a glimpse of Eminem as White Boy Rick. Following the leak, VladTV reached out to Wershe Jr. for a comment. The man himself was all positivity, writing:
“Eminem is awesome! And it was an honor! Detroit!!!”
50 Cent announced back in August that Eminem would be included in BMF as White Boy Rick. 50 Cent posted to Twitter saying that he was “bringing the big dogs out”, including couldn’t do a Detroit based show “without incorporating the legend @eminem.”
Oh yeah i’m bringing the big dogs out, I couldn’t do a show based in Detroit without incorporating the legend @eminem. Got him to play white Boy Rick in BMF, this shit is out of here. 🚦Green Light Gang #bransoncognac #lecheminduroi pic.twitter.com/YaklhzgJER
— 50cent (@50cent) August 17, 2021
In August, Wershe Jr. gave his blessing to 50 Cent, Eminem and BMF in a video by TMZ.
“Of course, it’s Eminem so that’s an honor to have him portray me in a series. He was actually one of the first people that was looking at doing the movie about me so it’s pretty cool that later down the line, he gets to take on this role.” Wershe Jr. added, “I’m a fan, you know. It’s an honor to have him do it. He’s a Detroit legend…so from one Detroiter to another, just, you know, kill it!”
The episode, entitled “All in The Family”, will air this Sunday (November 14) on STARZ.
Detroit’s BMF and White Boy Rick
BMF follows the history of the Black Mafia Family, an organization founded on the drug trade and money laundering. At the helm were the brothers Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenroy and Terry “Southwest T” Flenroy, kingpins of southwest Detroit in the 1980s.
White Boy Rick himself became an FBI informant in 1984, at the age of 14. In 1987, age 17, the FBI effectively abandoned him when he was arrested for possession of 8 kilograms of cocaine. White Boy Rick spent 27 years is prison, only being released in June 2020. The extraordinary length of the sentence for a nonviolent drug crime came by way of the notorious, now nonexistent 650 Lifer Law. However, some say it may also be linked to the political turmoil Wershe Jr. caused to the powerful figures of Detroit.
