11 Of The Biggest Controversies From Eminem's Career (2024)

In 2019, Eminem was heard weighing in on the domestic violence issue between Brown and Rihanna from 2009, rapping, “I'd side with Chris Brown, I'd beat down a b*tch too.” Brown was later convicted of assault.

Recorded in 2009, the audio was of an unreleased version of “Things Get Worse,” recorded for Eminem's Marshall Mathers album. While the track appeared differently on the album, the lost version included the lines:

He just picked up another prostitute in the parking lot of the hospital
And beat her over the head mercilessly and left her for dead

Eminem and Rhianna had worked together since the recording was made and, according to his publicist, “This is a leak of something that’s over 10 years old. After Eminem recorded it, he scrapped it, and rewrote it. Obviously, he and Rihanna have a great relationship.”

Eminem also apologized to Rhianna via his lyrics. His song “Zeus” (from his Music to be Murdered By: Side B album) included the lines:

And wholeheartedly apologies Rihanna for that song that leaked.
I'm sorry, Rih, it wasn't meant to cause you grief.

The video “The Storm” was released by Eminem in 2017 in conjunction with the BET Hip Hop Awards. In it, Eminem criticized then-president Donald Trump and, when his album Kamikaze came out in 2018, it contained a song indicating he'd been visited by the Secret Service that same year.

In “The Ringer,” Eminem rapped:

These verses are makin' him a wee bit nervous
And he's too scurred to answer me with words
'Cause he knows that he will lyrically get murdered
But I know at least he's heard it
'Cause Agent Orange just sent the Secret Service
To meet in person to see if I really think of hurtin' him
Or ask if I'm linked to terrorists
I said, "Only when it comes to ink and lyricists"

Initially, it wasn't clear if Eminem was being hyperbolic, but documents later revealed that the Secret Service had met with Eminem. It wasn't the video for BET that got their attention, however. Rather, they inquired about Eminem's song “Framed” and lyrics about Donald Trump's ex-wife Ivanka Trump:

Donald Duck's on, there's a Tonka Truck in the yard
But dog, how the f*ck is Ivanka Trump in the trunk of my car?
Gotta get to the bottom of it to try to solve it
Must go above and beyond, 'cause it's incumbent upon me
Plus I feel somewhat responsible for the dumb little blonde…

Nothing seems to have come out of the visit, but it wasn't the first time Eminem had crossed paths with the Secret Service. In 2003, the rapper was investigated for statements feared to be against former President George W. Bush. In the song “We As Americans," Eminem rapped:

F*ck money! I don't rap for dead presidents.
I'd rather see the President dead.

Eminem's first run-in with the law occurred before he rose to stardom, involved a paint gun, and didn't lead to any charges.

In 2001, Eminem faced charges for two incidents involving real guns - both of which took place in Michigan in 2000. The first centered on a gun that fell to the ground from Eminem's waistband during an altercation with Insane Clown Posse employee Dennis Dail. The second involved accusations that Eminem pistol-whipped John Guerra after he saw Guerra kissing his wife, Kim.

Eminem pleaded guilty to weapons charges for the incident involving Guerra and a charge of assault was dropped. He received two years of probation. He was also ordered to pay a fine, participate in counseling and drug testing, and ask for permission to travel overseas.

Eminem pleaded “no contest” to charges related to the incident with Dail and was sentenced o another year of probation, a $2,500 fine, and community service.

Eminem's lyrics about violence toward women, sex acts, and various celebrities's bodies have been called misogynist since the outset of his career.

Eminem's relationship with his wife, Kim Scott Mathers, made numerous appearances in his songs, presented in a way that was rife with references to violent acts. In “Kim,” released in 2000, Eminem rapped about how Kim had cheated on him and, as a result, he wanted to end her life. A companion song, “'97 Bonnie and Clyde,” referred to Kim “taking a little nap in the trunk” with a “little boo-boo on her throat" before her body was thrown into a lake.

Eminem's songs told the story of his ups and downs with Kim, but his lyrics about physically hurting women were not limited to his former spouse. He rapped in 2014:

But I may fight for gay rights
specially if they d*ke is more of a knockout than Janay Rice
Play nice? B*tch I’ll punch Lana Del Rey right in the face twice
Like Ray Rice in broad daylight
In the plain sight of the elevator surveillance
Till her head is banging on the railing
Then celebrate with the Ravens.

The reference to Ray Rice, who was suspended from the NFL after video footage captured him assaulting his fiance Janay Rice, was accompanied by an inexplicable reference to fellow singer Lana Del Rey.

References to Christina Aguilera and fellati*, Kim Kardashian's body, and Lindsay Lohan's sexuality have all appeared in Eminem's songs, while his general comments about women needing to lose weight and about sexual assault have been widely criticized.

In anticipation of a 2000 concert in Toronto, Ontario, Canadian politicians tried to prevent Eminem from entering the province. Michael Bryant, a political official in Canada, remarked at the time:

Nobody wants to curb free speech in the province of Ontario but some of this rapper's songs go over the line.

The concerns were specifically related to lyrics deemed anti-woman and a complaint filed by activist Valerie Smith. Smith asserted lyrics in songs like “Kill You” and “Kim” violated Canadian laws related to hate propaganda.

While politicians like Ontario Attorney General Jim Flatery agreed with Smith, nothing was done to prevent Eminem from entering Canada. Immigration officials refused to stop Eminem, commenting, “If all people who made bad music were kept out of Canada we could have stopped disco.”

Eminem took the stage at the SkyDome (now Rogers Centre) in Toronto on October 26, 2000, as one of several acts on the Anger Management Tour. He performed “Kill You,” crying out, “Bet you didn't think I was gonna do that one, did you” afterward, and dedicated “The Way I Am” to, as he put it, “that b*tch Valerie Smith.”

Eminem did not release the songs “Foolish Pride” or “So Many Styles” on any of his albums, but recordings of both were released by The Source in 2003. “Foolish Pride” included lines about inter-racial dating and ultimately framed Black women as unintelligent and greedy:

Blacks and whites sometimes mix
But Black girls only want your money 'cause they're dumb chicks
So I'ma say like this
Don't date a Black girl, take it as a diss…

At the time, Eminem addressed the matter, explaining:

The tape they played today was something I made out of anger, stupidity, and frustration when I was a teenager… I'd just broken up with my girlfriend, who was African American, and I reacted like the angry, stupid kid I was. I hope people will take it for the foolishness that it was, not for what somebody is trying to make it into today.

Eminem also included an apology in his song “Yellow Brick Road.”

There were questions about when the songs were recorded, and owners of The Source were feuding with Eminem at the time they were released. In 2022, rapper Bizarre (from the group D12) claimed, “The song was cut off and edited. He was freestyling and was naming all type of races but The Source just edited the ‘Black girl’ part and made it sound like racist.”