Rapper Ja Rule Films Homemade Commercial Promoting LA Greek Restaurant Papa Cristo's
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Is rapper Ja Rule getting back into the pitchman business?
A video posted on YouTube showed the rapper in a homemade commercial advertising Papa Cristo's, a Greek restaurant in Los Angeles that's been a staple in the community for decades.
"I'm telling you, come on down to Papa Cristo's, you can't even pronounce the food, it's so damn good," he says after mangling the pronunciation of several menu items.
The last time Ja Rule tried his hand at the promotions businesses, it was for the infamous Fyre Festival. It was touted as a star-studded luxury music festival in the Bahamas and sold tickets for between $1,000 and $125,000. But when ticketeholders got there, they found FEMA tents, no electricity, and sad cheese sandwiches. The debacle led to millions in dollars of lawsuits for breach of contract, and one of the promotors being sentenced to six years in prison.
The commercial turns out to be part of a new show on TBS called "Celebrity Show-Off" that premieres this week. On the show's page, an extended cut of the commercial has Ja Rule explaining that he wanted to use his notoriety and fame for good.
"We all know we going through a tough time right now, especially mom-and-pop shops. My heart goes out to these businesses," he said.