Eminem
Personal life
Children | Trivia
Personal life
Early childhood
Marshall was born in
St. Joseph, Missouri (near Kansas City) to parents Deborah "Debbie" Mathers-Briggs
and Marshall Bruce Mathers II, and spent most of his childhood moving back and
forth between Kansas City, and suburban Detroit, including Warren. His father
had abandoned the family before Marshall turned two years old, and the two have
not had contact since, save some rejected attempts by Marshall's father to
contact Marshall after his rise to fame. Constantly moving from home to home, he
frequently changed schools, often finding himself to be an outcast in the new
communities, and frequently fell victim to bullying. An
assault by schoolmate DeAngelo Bailey that left Marshall hospitalized was the
most notable such incident, which Marshall would later recount in greatly
exaggerated form on the track "Brain Damage" (The
Slim Shady LP,
1999). The song prompted legal action by the assailant,[1]
with accusations of
libel and privacy infringement, which were eventually dismissed in court.
His childhood was further marred by his family's meager financial status,
which was the primary reason for the continuous moving, during which Marshall
and his mother Debbie would often find themselves living in
public housing, mobile homes, and under the care of relatives, such as
Marshall's great-aunt Edna, whom he mentions in "Evil Deeds" (‘‘Encore’’).
During this time, Debbie was legally taking the prescription drugs Vicodin and
Valium, though Marshall later claimed in numerous interviews and songs that she
was abusing the drugs,[2] to which Debbie retaliated with a lawsuit pressing
defamation charges (see below). In the song "Cleaning Out My Closet" (The Eminem
Show, 2002), Mathers also accuses his mother of having Munchausen syndrome, adding that "my whole life I was made to believe I was
sick when I wasn't... it makes you sick to your stomach, doesn't it?". This was
not the first time someone had suggested Debbie had the disorder; a social
worker had made similar comments following a
1996 investigation
of her mistreatment of Nathan Samra-Mathers, her second child.
Life before fame
Before dropping out of
Lincoln High School Warren as a 9th grader at the age of 17 (after failing ninth
grade three times), Marshall made a number of significant acquaintances at the
school. This included fellow rapper Proof, who was to become one of his closest
friends, the Runyon Avenue Soldiers, and future wife Kimberly Ann "Kim" Scott, with whom he soon developed a long-term relationship. When
Kim became pregnant, this further increased Marshall's drive to succeed through
concern over the welfare of his new family. He discusses this in "Never Far" (Infinite,
1996), saying "I
got a baby on the way, I don't even got a car...I still stay with my moms...we
gotta make some hit records or something [because] I'm tired of being broke..."
When the Infinite album failed to generate the revenue and acclaim he had
hoped for, and Kim ended their relationship, preventing him from seeing his
newborn child, Marshall decided to take his own life. However, his suicide
attempt using an overdose of
Tylenol
analgesics
failed, and Marshall resumed his efforts to succeed in the music industry and
reconcile with Kim.[3]
He ultimately succeeded in doing both, marrying Kim on
June 14, 1999
in St. Joseph, Missouri.
The couple's daughter,
Hailie Jade Scott, born December 25, 1995 would grow to become an important part
of Marshall's life, as he became dedicated to giving her everything he himself
was deprived of in his childhood, including a father figure and financial
security. He would go on to mention her extensively in some of his songs,
including "'97 Bonnie & Clyde" (The Slim Shady LP, 1999), which takes the form
of a one-sided dialogue
with Hailie, as well as "Hailie's Song" (The Eminem Show, 2002),
"Mockingbird" (‘‘Encore’’, 2004), and "When I'm Gone" (Curtain Call: The Hits,
2005), all of which are proclamations of his love and dedication to her. In
addition, he samples her voice in the less serious upbeat track "My Dad's Gone
Crazy" (The Eminem Show, 2002).
Legal troubles
The year 1999 was marked by a rise to celebrity status for Marshall, but it
also ushered the beginning of his numerous legal troubles. The first of these
was his mother Debbie's lawsuit against him in September of that year. The
lawsuit was motivated by comments on Debbie's drug use made by Marshall on the
song "My Name Is" (The Slim Shady LP, 1999), specifically the lyric
"Ninety-nine percent of my life I was lied to/I just found out my mom does more
dope than I do", and similar accusations in numerous interviews. Debbie refuted
the statements and demanded more than
$10 million in damages for defamation in two lawsuits. After rumors of
Debbie dropping the suit, she and Marshall reached a settlement in
2001 for $25,000,
with over $23,000 of it going to Debbie's former attorney Fred Gibson by a court
order.[4]
A request for reconsideration of the settlement by Debbie was denied by a judge.[5]
Marshall's resentful reflections on the case can be heard on the song "Marshall
Mathers" (The Marshall Mathers LP,
2000) in the lyrics
"my fuckin' bitch mom is suing for 10 million/ she must want a dollar for every
pill I've been stealin'" and the self-censored line "your attorney Fred Gibson's
a faggot".
With Marshall's rise to stardom, new disputes arose between him and his wife,
centered around Kim's dissatisfaction over the graphic fictional account of
Marshall murdering her and dumping her body in a lake in the songs "'97 Bonnie &
Clyde" (The Slim Shady LP, 1999) and "Kim" (The Marshall Mathers LP,
2000). The tension between the couple came to a climax when Marshall witnessed
Kim kissing another man, one John Guerrera, outside the Hot Rocks Café in Warren
on June 4, 2000. Highly disgruntled, Marshall threatened John with an unloaded 9
mm semi-automatic gun and allegedly proceeded to pistol-whip him.[6]
Guerrera is mentioned in "Sing For The Moment" on The Eminem Show, with the
exact lyric being "you're full of shit too, Guerrera, that was a fist that hit
you!" On the previous day, Marshall was allegedly involved in a heated dispute
in Red Oak, Michigan with Douglas Dail, an associate of the rap group Insane
Clown Posse, with whom Marshall had an ongoing rivalry. On The Marshall Mathers LP, on the track "Marshall Mathers,"
Eminem calls ICP's Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent Jay "Faggot 2 Dope," and "Silent
Gay." Furthermore, the Ken Kaniff skit on this album features the character
(played by Eminem) being fellated by the ICP pair. During the confrontation,
Marshall was observed to be holding a gun, which he kept pointed at the ground.[7]
Being taken into police custody during the Hot Rocks Café incident, Marshall was
charged with
misdemeanor charges of brandishing a firearm in public, assault with a dangerous
weapon, and two counts of concealed weapon possession, in two separate trials
for the two incidents. After a plea bargain in the John Guerrera case, which
concluded on April 10, 2001, Marshall pleaded guilty to weapon possession in
exchange for the assault charges being dropped, receiving two years of probation,[8]
and was ordered to pay $100,000 in damages at the conclusion of the case
evaluation in 2002.[9]
In the Dail case, he pleaded
nolo contendere to the charges of firearm possession and brandishing,
receiving one year of probation, enforced concurrently with the sentence from
the first case.[10]
He would later recount the former incident in the song "Soldier" (The Eminem
Show, 2002) and the preceding
interlude
"The Kiss".
While the trials were in the beginning stages, things were only getting worse
for Marshall, when on
July 7, 2000,
Kim attempted suicide in the couple's
Sterling Heights, Michigan home by
cutting her
wrists. Marshall talks about this incident from Hailie's point of view in
the song "When I'm Gone" from the CD Curtain Call: The Hits.[11]
This prompted Marshall to file for
divorce a few
months later,[12]
which was promptly countered by Kim with a lawsuit that sought to deny Marshall
custody of their daughter and $10 million in defamation damages.[13]
Within weeks, however, they settled the lawsuit, and agreed to
joint
custody of their daughter, with Kim gaining physical
custody of Hailie, granting Marshall "liberal visitation rights".[14]
By the end of the year, the couple reconciled, agreeing to dismiss divorce
claims and live together.[15]
Marshall mentions [Kim's] suicide attempt and the Hot Rocks Café incident on the
Xzibit song "Don't Approach Me" (Restless, 2000), expressing anger and frustration with the media's constant prying into
his life, and with public attention towards him in general.
The reconciliation, however, would not last, as Kim filed for divorce in
2001, which was finalized in October of that year, granting joint physical and
legal custody of Hailie to both parties, as well as requiring Marshall to make child
support payments.[16]
There was further turbulence in their relationship when Kim was sentenced to 2
years of probation for
felony
cocaine
possession in 2003.
This was not her first such incident, as she had previously faced similar
charges in 2001, although they were eventually dropped.[17]
The incident was not to be her last, however, as she was sentenced to 30 days in
jail in 2004, after failing a
drug test
for cocaine while still on probation.[18]
Marshall makes numerous references to Kim's cocaine use on the Encore
album, including the quotes "you're a fucking cokehead slut" and "mama developed
a habit" in the songs "Puke" and "Mockingbird" respectively. Their relationship
since their divorce was subject to many contradictive rumors and statements in
Marshall's music and remained in an indecisive "on-again, off-again" state for a
long time.
The aftermath
Marshall was no stranger to drugs and alcohol, as suggested by a large number
of his songs, including "Drug Ballad" (The Marshall Mathers LP, 2000) and
"These Drugs" (Devil's
Night Bonus Disc, 2001), which are dedicated to his drug use in their
entirety. The song "I'm Shady" (The Slim Shady LP, 1999) even includes
the explanatory line "well, I do take pills (ecstasy
or prescription drugs), don't do
speed / don't do crack, don't do
coke / I do
smoke weed / don't do
smack / I do do
shrooms, do drink beer / I just wanna make a few things clear". Later
tracks, including the aforementioned "These Drugs" and "Kill You" (The
Marshall Mathers LP, 2000) additionally suggest cocaine use, although he has
never been in a law enforcement incident involving drugs. However, with the
sentence of two years of probation taking effect in 2001, during which he was
subject to mandatory regular drug testing, his recreational drug use was put to
an end. This fact is supported with references to his drug use in his music,
which all but disappeared after 2001, and comments by band mate
Proof, who states that Marshall "sobered up".[19]
However, with rising pressures and workload in his professional career, Marshall
found it difficult to get the rest he wanted, and turned to
Ambien sleeping pills for relief. His use of the drug eventually became so
severe, that in August 2005, he cancelled the European leg of his ongoing tour,
and checked into a drug rehabilitation clinic for treatment.
The decline of Marshall's drug use during his probation was in line with the
growing demands for responsibility in his role as a parent to Hailie. In
addition, he is also known to take care of the daughter of Kim's twin sister
Dawn, Alaina "Laney", whom he mentions in the song "Mockingbird" (Encore,
2004), referring to himself as her "daddy" and stating "it's almost like [Laney
and Hailie] are sisters now". He also cares for his younger half-brother Nathan,
who makes appearances in the music videos for "The Way I Am" (The Marshall
Mathers LP, 2000) and "Without Me" (The Eminem Show, 2002). Marshall currently
resides with the aforementioned members of his extended family in Clinton
Charter Township, Michigan in the outskirts of Detroit.
Remarriage
Eminem remarried Kim on January 14, 2006 in Michigan. Eminem's best man was
long time friend and D12 member Proof, while Kim's maid of honor was their
daughter Hailie. They walked down the aisle to Eminem's song "Mockingbird" which
was a tribute to Hailie and his niece Alaina. Guests at the wedding were 50 Cent
and his G-Unit
crew, as well as D12. Kim's mother attended the wedding while Eminem's mother
did not.
Home | Personal life | Early career | Entering the mainstream | Themes and topics | Controversy | Other works and ventures | Retiring Slim Shady | Discography | Awards and nominations | Links | Hip Hop Music | License
Eminem Preview, made by MultiMedia | Free content and software
This guide is licensed under the GNU
Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
|
