Eminem’s half-brother Nathan Mathers didn’t hold back when sharing his thoughts on the recent death of their mother, Debbie Nelson.
“Hatred and mixed emotions today,” Mathers, 38, wrote via his Instagram Stories on Tuesday, December 3, after news broke that Nelson had died at age 69.
TMZ reported on Monday, December 2, that Nelson died in St. Joseph, Missouri, following a battle with lung cancer. Her diagnosis was originally reported in September.
A rep for Eminem, 52, subsequently confirmed Nelson’s death.
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Nelson shared Eminem (real name Marshall Mathers III) with ex-husband Marshall Mathers Jr., who died in 2019 at age 67. When Eminem was 13, Nelson welcomed Nathan with Fred Samra. (The rapper also has a half-brother named Michael and half-sister named Sarah.)
Eminem hasn’t publicly reacted to his mother’s death, but he’s made no secret of their tumultuous relationship over the years.
In the 1999 track “My Name Is,” Eminem claimed that his mom did “more dope than I do.” Nelson then sued her son for defamation and won a settlement of $25,000 in 2001 after initially seeking $11 million in damages.
She spoke out about her famous eldest child in her 2008 memoir, My Son, Marshall, My Son, Eminem, claiming, “If I made one mistake as a mother, it was giving in to my eldest son’s every whim.”
Nelson continued: “He never knew his father, and I did all I could to make up for it. I wasn’t happy when he made up a whole new life for himself — what mother wants to be known as a pill-popping alcoholic who lives on welfare? To tell the truth, I was heartbroken.”
Five years later, Eminem apologized to his mother in the song “Headlights” from his eighth studio album, The Marshall Mathers LP 2. “I went in headfirst, never thinking about who, what I said hurt / In what verse, my mom probably got it the worst,” he rapped. “And I’m mad I didn’t get the chance to thank you for being my mom and my dad / So Mom, please accept this as a tribute I wrote on this jet.”
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Despite their differences, Nelson publicly praised Eminem on his 2022 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“Marshall, I want to say, I could not let this day go by without congratulating you on your induction into the Hall of Fame,” she said in a since-deleted video. “I love you very much. I knew you’d get there. It’s been a long ride. I’m very, very proud of you.”
