Eminem’s brother filled with ‘hatred’ after their mother’s death
Nathan “Nate” Mathers, the half-brother of rap legend Eminem, revealed the powerful emotions thrashing about inside of him following the death of their mother, Debbie Nelson.
Nelson succumbed to lung cancer at age 69 on Dec. 2 in St. Joseph, Mo., about 60 miles north of Kansas City.
Nate, 38, took to his Instagram Story to bluntly inform his 100K followers what he was feeling two days later.
“Hatred and mixed emotions today,” he penned against a black background.
Eminem,
Eminem, who was born in Detroit as Marshall Bruce Mathers, has yet to publicly comment. But he heavily influenced his younger brother as Mathers followed the Slim Shady into the music game. This explains why he was backstage with country music star and fellow Detroit native Shaboozey during the Detroit Lions football game on Thanksgiving 2023.
The two were close growing up even though they don’t share the same father. Marshall Mathers Jr. reportedly left the family when Eminem was an infant. Thirteen years later, Nelson gave birth to Nate Mathers with boyfriend Fred Samra.
The sons’ tumultuous relationship with their mother was partially depicted in the classic film “8 Mile.” The title of the film got its name after the street that Eminem grew up on, which was the line of demarcation between a gritty city to the south and the prosperous suburbs to the north. In fact, the relations got so bad that Nate Mathers was placed in foster care at age 8.
Once Eminem turned 23, however, he legally obtained full custody of his brother.
“When he was taken away I always said if I ever get in a position to take him, I would take him,” Eminem told Rolling Stone. “I tried to apply for full custody when I was 20, but I didn’t have the means.”
Mathers said he is eternally grateful that Eminem came and got him.
“He was the best role model I could have had to help me be the dad that I am today,” Nate said on the “Just a Little Shady” podcast in February 2023, according to Yahoo.
Mathers, who is now married with three children, used the moniker “Nate Kane” to release his own music.
Yahoo states that Mathers made appearances in Eminem’s music videos “Without Me” in 2002 and the 2003 single “Sing for the Moment.”
It has yet to be revealed if the “hatred” and “mixed emotions” are tied to Mathers being placed in foster care. It probably didn’t thaw their icy relations when Nelson released her memoir, “My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem: Setting the Record Straight on My Life as Eminem’s Mother.” In the book, Nelson tried to defend herself against a litany of alleged exaggerations that Eminem said about her in many of his lyrics.
Nelson also sued her son Eminem for $10M for defamation, Yahoo states, though she was awarded just $25K and then was ordered by the judge to use $24K to pay her legal fees.