Rapper 50 Cent is no stranger to controversy and now an encounter with a contract worker at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport has created a firestorm online.

On Tuesday, the rapper reportedly issued an apology to the family of the young man he made fun of.

50 Cent followed the worker and posted the video on Twitter, complete with speculation the young man might be on drugs. But the truth turned out to be much different.

Disturbing, appalling, just flat out sick; that was how the parents of Andrew Farrell described the video that showed rapper 50 Cent harassing their son. Andrew Farrell had just started his workday at CVG. He was on his way to clean one of the gates.

"Then this guy just came up to me and started talking to me," remembered Andrew.

It wasn't just any guy, it was 50 Cent. And he wasn't just talking to Andrew, he was harassing him.

50 Cent said, "Look at him. What kinds *&%# you think he took before he came to work today? He high as a mother f***** right here in the airport."

"It hurts to watch that, it's painful," said Andrew's stepfather, Ken, who couldn't believe what he was seeing. "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."

Andrew has dealt with social anxiety and mild autism all his life. His mother, Amanda, said it was heartbreaking to see him treated like that.

"Personally, I think the guy was mad. Andrew didn't know who he was right away and he ignored him and he did his job and went about his business. I think he was mad and offended that someone didn't flock to him," said Amanda.

The rapper wrote a letter to Andrew and the Ferrell/Kramer family. "While the incident at the airport resulted from an unfortunate misunderstanding, please accept my sincere apologies for offending you," the he wrote, "It was certainly not my intent to insult you and I wish you and your family well."

As for Andrew, he said he was pretty happy with the person he is, "I don't do drugs. I believe in God. I'm a hard worker."

Andrew and his family said the outpouring of support has been tremendous with hundreds of positive messages posted to Andrew's Instagram and Facebook pages in the past few days. Despite all the attention online.