news archives

May 31, 2003 - A framed lithograph of Eminem’s original, handwritten lyrics to 'Lose Yourself' has attracted an $13,000 bid on eBay, with proceeds benefiting the City of Hope’s Songs of Hope auction chaired by Universal Music Publishing head David Renzer. Check out the auction, which ends June 5th, at eBay.com.

May 31, 2003 - Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder has weighed in on Eminem in Rolling Stone magazine. He says, "I appreciate the poetry in the lyrics. The way he phrases things is absolutely inspiring. I like when he gets informational stuff in there. And the song about the fan letter ['Stan'] -- I've been through that. Not to the point where the guy ends up in a ditch. But in the early days, I'd answer letters. They'd write back again. 'I can't believe you wrote, that was the coolest thing.' Then five letters would come while I was on tour, I'd see the fifth one, and it was like 'Fu**ing son of a bitch, you're just like all the rest. I thought you were cool, but fu** you, you corporate whore.' That's when I decided you couldn't keep up with that stuff. It was impossible." Read more.

May 31, 2003 - Queen Latifah stopped by Capital FM in London and was asked if she would ever work with Eminem. "Yeah I'd work with Eminem. I think he’s one of the greatest lyricists around," Latifah said. "I think the guy’s a freaking lyrical genius. The kid’s tight. When it comes to MCs, I’m honest, ain’t about no black white ‘he's the Elvis of hip hop’ garbage. I mean the kid can write, he really does pay respect to everybody that's around and the pioneers that influenced him and I respect him for that." Listen to the entire interview here.

May 26, 2003 - Eminem's rep responded to reports the rapper had recorded messages left by rumored ex-flame Mariah Carey and planned to use them in a upcoming song. "There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that Eminem has anything from Mariah on tape. What happened is long in the past, and he's not even thinking about that now."

May 23, 2003 - Mariah Carey has blasted Eminem to The Sun, warning the rapper not to try and use any of her voice messages in any future singles. "I don’t think he should do that because it will get him in a bit of trouble with my lawyers," Carey said. "If he is thinking of using a voicemail I left a year ago it is crazy. It feels like he is engaging in a catfight with me. It’s like dealing with a girlfriend in seventh grade. It’s like fighting with a little girl. It’s childish." Read more.

May 23, 2003 - When Eminem was just nine, little Marshall Mathers III was on the business end of a series of severe beatdowns from an elementary school classmate. The bullying was so bad, in fact, that his mother Debbie Mathers actually sued the local school board for failing to protect her son. The complaint was eventually dismissed on the grounds of governmental immunity. Check out the court complaint scans from the case at TheSmokingGuncom.

May 20, 2003 - Ginger Lynn tells Michael Musto of the Village Voice that Eminem went with her instead of Shannon Elizabeth for the 'Superman' video role after he saw her as a stripper in 'Analyze That'. "He had no name for me," she said. "He didn't even know I did adult films." She added, "He's very sincere and sweet." Lynn says the rapper's only caveat to her was to not wear too-high heels because then she'd be way taller than he is.

May 17, 2003 - Michael Deeds of the Idaho Statesman is sharing his mixed thoughts on Eminem following the rapper's refusal to allow Weird Al to shoot a video for his new song, 'Couch Potato,' which is a parody of Eminem´s Oscar-winning 'Lose Yourself.' Deeds says, "On the one hand, I find him irresistible. He's a wickedly clever, highly imaginative lyricist. He also has a special, intangible star quality. On the other hand, I would never want to hang with the dude. Whether he´s flipping the bird to the universe after dueting with Sir Elton John, or waving a handgun around in a Detroit parking lot, Eminem exudes the persona of a self-centered, 30-year-old child: He feels like the kind of person that can dish it out but can't take it." Read more.

May 15, 2003 - MuchMusic reports Eminem's first game premieres today at the Electronic Expo in Los Angeles. The new game, titled 'Mix TV Presents: Eminem', will be available in both teen-rated and mature versions. Plans are already underway for the next Eminem video game, which may end up being a 3-D action game based on 'The Slim Shady Show' animated cartoon.

May 12, 2003 - The Sunday Mail quotes Christina Aguilera saying of her settled beef with Eminem: "I took Eminem to one side and confronted him about all that stuff he spouted in his songs about me. He was like a puppy. We hugged and made up."

May 9, 2003 - WENN reports Eminem has given his approval for '8 Mile' to be turned into a musical production, although there are no plans for Eminem to take to the stage himself. But Slim will be given the title of executive producer. An insider reports, "He was thrilled with the idea that it would also be on the stage. It's quite shocking in parts but Marshall actually sees it as something like 'West Side Story'."

May 7, 2003 - RollingStone.com reports Weird Al Yankovic's new album 'Poodle Hat', out May 20th, will include parodies of Eminem, Avril Lavigne, Nelly and the Backstreet Boys. The Eminem spoof, "Couch Potato," set to the tune of "Lose Yourself," tackles America's favorite pastime. "It's a diatribe about the state of TV," Yankovic says. "It's about a guy who watches it constantly, but has a love-hate relationship with it. It's full of snarky little jibes." Read more.

May 2, 2003 - Anonymous writes "Dr. Dre was just on a radio interview here in Milwaukee on our local radio station 100.7 V100. Dre and the DJ started talking about 50 Cent and Eminem. The DJ said, "Speaking of Eminem…he still got beef with little [Britney Spears] and [Christina Aguilera]?" Dre said something like, "I don’t know about the Britney sh** but I know he got the 'Dirrty' video on tape.""

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