Eminem’s Half-Brother Reacts To Their Mom’s Death With ‘Hatred & Mixed Emotions’

In the wake of the death of rapper Eminem and his half-brother Nate Mathers’ mother, Mathers has shared an Instagram tribute. Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, and Mathers’ mother, Debbie Nelson, died on Dec. 2 at the age of 69 from complications related to lung cancer.

On Dec. 3, Mathers shared a post to Instagram stories that bleakly stated in white lettering on a black background, “Hatred and mixed emotions today.”

Nelson famously had a fraught relationship with her sons, and Eminem has been known to call her out for her upsetting behavior in his music. For example, in his song ‘Headlights’, he rapped, “So my shoulders carried the weight of the load / Then Nate got taken away by the state at 8 years old,” and continued, “And that’s when I realized you were sick / And it wasn’t fixable or changeable.”

When Eminem claimed she was on drugs in his song ‘My Mom,’ Nelson sued him for $11 million for defamation.

Nelson married Marshall Mathers Jr. in 1970 when she was 16 years old, and Eminem was born two years later, in 1972. Marshall ended up abandoning Nelson and the newborn, never having contact with his son. Later, when Eminem was 13 years old, Nelson and her boyfriend, Fred Samra, welcomed Mathers into the world.

Mathers was placed in foster care at eight years old and stayed for almost ten years.

In 2004, Eminem recounted the experience to The Rolling Stone: “I cried just going to see him at the foster home. The day he was taken away, I was the only one allowed to see him. They had come and got him out of school. He didn’t know what the f— was going on.”

He continued, “When he was taken away, I always said if I ever get in a position to take him, I would take him. I tried to apply for full custody when I was 20, but I didn’t have the means.”

When Mathers was 16, Eminem was able to adopt him as his legal guardian.

In February 2023, Mathers told Eminem’s daughter, Hailie Jade, on the podcast Just a Little Shady, “[Eminem] was the best role model I could have had to help me be the dad that I am today.”

Mathers is now married with three children.

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