All language subtitles for Stans2025720pAMZNWEB-DLDDP51H264-BiOMA[_27749]

♪ MTV ♪

A lot of people ask me...

Why did you write
the song "Stan?"

Is "Stan" based on a real fan?

Why do you share so much
about yourself in your music?

What the hell goes
on in your brain?

Are you happy?

How's your daughter?

Who is someone that
helped you the same way

that you helped me?

Do you feel like the
impact you've had

is what you hoped it would be?

What's it like being famous?

How much fan mail do you get?

How does it feel to be
followed by so many people?

Have you read my letter?

Is everyone ready?

All right, Marshall, take one.

What's your first question?

♪ Time you can see the truth ♪

♪ But it's easier to justify ♪

♪ What's bad is good ♪

♪ And I hate to be the bad guy ♪

♪ I just hate to
be the bad guy ♪

♪ I just hate to
be the bad guy ♪

♪ And I hate to be the bad guy ♪

Hi, my name is chick
a-chick a Slim...

I wanted to say Zolt Shady.

Hi, my name is chick
a-chick a-chick a

Zolt Shady.

Hi, my name is Alex.

Hi, my name is Daniyela.

Hi, my name is Giovanni.

Hi, my name is Brooklyn.

Hi, my name is James.

Hi, my name is Kyle.

Hi. "My Name Is."

Well, no, you...

I'm s... I thought you
mean it like the song.

Hi, my name is Nikki.

Let me just put my cape on.

I don't even know what
these look like on.

Too much?

It's called the Eminem.

Um, it's based off...
in his music video

"Without Me."

Um, although I did leave
my plastic ass at home,

but this is my costume.

This is art.

This is crazy.

Early Eminem, Slim Shady.

This is the type of
mask that he always wore

in every concert, early 2000s,

everything like that.

How and why does a white
T-shirt become iconic?

Because, uh, there's a
Slim Shady in all of us.

When he wears that shirt,

and when I wear
that shirt as well,

it symbolizes unity.

They, um, have an Eminem
subreddit, r/eminem,

and I enjoy being there.

It's actually, uh,
where I found my people.

So I follow him on
all social medias.

Every social media that
he has, that I have,

I will follow him on.

I, like, followed him every...

not followed him
everywhere, 'cause that

sounds weird and creepy.

You should see what
my explore page

on Instagram looks like.

Eminem, Eminem, cute puppies,

Eminem, Eminem, horror movies,

Eminem, Eminem, hairstyles.

Stuff like that.

I wake up every morning,
and it is a habit.

It's a ritualistic routine.

I think I do have an
addiction to Eminem.

Occasionally, like,
I'll go into, like,

a YouTube, like,
rabbit hole where

I'll, like, watch
old performances

or music videos or interviews.

And, like, what people
could say in interviews

25 years ago versus what
they could say now, like,

half the shit he
said was insane.

All right, y'all.

Back here live on
the "Rap City" thing.

I'm looking for my man.

My man is not...

Ow!

Ow!

Yo, cut the cameras, man.

Come on, dog.

Come on. Come on.

-You all right?
-Hey!

-One...
-Ladies and gentlemen...

And a-two, and a-three...

Insane.

This guy's insane.

Ladies and gentlemen,
introducing Eminem.

Y'all give it up for Eminem.

-What's up, dog?
-What's up, man?

How you doing?

That right there, it
brought me back so much.

Just the energy that he
came in when he was onscreen

was a different type of energy.

This is an artist called Eminem.

It's spelled funky.

If you're going to pronounce it,

it's like the candy. Eminem.

I'm keeping it gangster, homie.

I'm keeping it gangster.

I am flexing my bum-bum.

There was a shock factor

when I was first
discovering Eminem.

Here's Eminem doing one of
the best Michael Jackson

impersonations I've ever seen.

He was definitely
a loose cannon.

Mom!

No, yes, you did molest me.

This dude, he's got a
good sense of humor,

and he's willing to
express his art, you know,

with no boundaries.

I was 10 years old sitting
at home watching MTV

in hopes to see
the Backstreet Boys

or NSYNC come on,

but it was Marshall Mathers.

Slim Shady came on
with "My Name Is,"

and my whole life
changed after that.

♪ Hi, my name is, what ♪

♪ My name is, who ♪

♪ My name is chick
a-chick a Slim Shady ♪

♪ Hi, my name is, huh ♪

♪ My name is ♪

I was coming home from
the police academy,

and I hear, "Hi, my name is."

And I was like, what is this?

And so I listened to
it all the way home.

It's not like anything
else I've heard before.

I'm in.

♪ Chicka-chick a Slim Shady ♪

♪ Hi, kids, do you like Primus ♪

♪ Wanna see me stick
nine-inch nails ♪

♪ Through each one
of my eyelids ♪

You want to copy me and
do exactly what I did?

Try 'cid and get fucked
up worse than my life is?

I was like, what? Yeah!

Sign me up.

I'll do it.

♪ My brain's dead weight ♪

♪ I'm trying to get
my head straight ♪

♪ But I can't figure
out which Spice Girl ♪

♪ I want to impregnate ♪

Most of these rappers back then,

they want to portray this,
I'm from the streets,

I'm a thug, I'm this,
don't fuck with me.

He's just being him.

He's just having a grand time.

♪ Hi, my name is, what ♪

♪ My name is, who ♪

♪ My name is chick
a-chick a Slim Shady ♪

Nobody was making those
type of music videos.

Most people were like,
half-naked, dancing,

doing, like, these big numbers.

And he had, like, storylines.

♪ 99% of my life,
I was lied to ♪

♪ I just found out my mom
does more dope than I do ♪

When he started going at
these pop culture people,

making fun of them to the T,
I'm just like, oh, my God,

dude, this guy really
doesn't give a fuck.

I was, like, hypnotized.

Like, my eyes were, like,
glued to the screen,

and that kick started
my obsession with him.

We be live in Times Square,
"Total Request Live,"

with the big videos,
the most requested ones.

How about a round of
applause for Eminem?

Hi.

Making his...

"TRL" at the time was new.

It was always our
intent to have it be

an exact reflection
of our audience.

It was like, what if we gave
one hour of this network

to the fans?

And let's ask them
what they want.

Let's take their requests.

I was a radio guy,
and we did a lot

of, like, requests in radio.

Who did you want to see?

Congratulations.

"Slim Shady" is going to
number two next week...

-Thank you.
-On the charts.

Thank you.

That deserves a round
of applause right there.

With a little... little
bit of help from MTV.

I've seen fans.
I've seen it all.

I've never seen anything like
Marshall, Eminem fans, ever.

My name is!

How they show up,
what they look like,

the connection that they
have with this artist,

it's really deep.

The reason why we're here today

is because of his
creation of "Stan."

He created a culture that is

so out of the boundary

of regular pop culture

that he made his own term.

Anything I can grab
on Eminem, I'll find.

Over a thousand interviews
I've watched, rewatched.

He was the first one where
I was like, you know what?

I could marry this guy.

I would say that I'm a Stan.

I know three albums
back to back lyrically,

every single word
of... of everything.

I remember being him for
the talent show when I was

11 and dressing
up, white T-shirt.

I sprayed my hair yellow.

When I was five my brother
exposed me to his songs,

and I kept listening
to it over and over,

and all my friends
were like, oh, my God.

Like, girl, you
need to calm down.

I have a book, a specific
book that I made.

When I see Eminem,

I put it in the book.

There was a point in time
where every single magazine

cover you looked at or saw,
no matter where you were,

Marshall was on the cover.

For so many people
admiring you that much

and having such a
strong reaction to you,

it must have been, like,
a high or something.

And the winner is
Eminem, "My Name Is."

I want to thank all the fans

that made "Slim Shady" possible.

All of a sudden, you're
skyrocketed into fame,

and it's everything
you've ever wanted,

everything you ever dreamed of.

I can't even imagine that.

Has it ever felt normal
in any sense of that word?

Well, none of this is normal.

None of it's normal.

Once the "Hi, My Name Is" video,

once MTV accepted
that and played it,

it was like a fucking
switch went off overnight.

And all of a sudden, I woke
up the next day from that,

and my entire life
was changed forever.

Um, uh, we're gonna go
to, uh, my old house,

and I'm going to
knock on the door

and see if I can get in

'cause I left
something in my room.

This is the house.

See back there, that
used to be a garage.

One of my longtime
friends, Deshaun Holton.

He's a rapper too.
His name is Proof.

He used to take me up in
the lunchroom at Osborn.

What's up, dog?

I used to battle, like, a
lot of kids in the school.

Proof was Eminem's best friend.

He was there from the beginning.

Proof gave him a lot
of the confidence

and a lot of courage.

The illest story
is we used to do

the "White Men
Can't Jump" thing.

I used to go in to sneak him...

I used to sneak him into Osborn,

and everybody would be
like, I'll battle you, man.

I'll battle.

I'm like, you ain't
can't battle me.

Why don't you battle him?

And they'd be like,
oh, the white boy?

I'ma kill him!

I'ma kill him!

Then he'd come out
busting a rhyme...

Everybody and they
friends like...

One of the reasons I
love Eminem's story

is because he didn't set
out to become famous.

He loves his art. He
loves what he does.

Hello, I'm Slim Shady.

I don't think he
ever could have seen

where it would have gone to.

I cut class... don't
tell my mother...

and...

And we were sitting
in my boy's house,

and we had MTV playing,
and my boys were just like,

oh, just another white rapper.

And I was like, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no.

I've never heard anybody
do it like he did it.

And that's when I started
going down that wormhole.

Where did he come from?

Where was his origin story?

♪ Bus it, what? ♪

♪ It's only fair to warn I
was born with a set of horns ♪

♪ And metaphors attached
to my dang umbilical cord ♪

♪ Warlord of rap that'll
bash you with a 2x4 board ♪

♪ And smash into your Honda
Accord with a four-door Ford ♪

♪ Look, any rapper saying
those kind of rhymes ♪

♪ In this day and age,
in this period of time ♪

♪ Trying to battle Eminem
is worse than David Starr ♪

♪ Trying to battle Proof,
Eye-Kyu, B-Fat, and Bizarre ♪

When I found out that this
is a battle rap rapper,

and rapping all these
Black rappers in Detroit?

♪ Look, my face is pale ♪

♪ But you look like
you seen a ghost ♪

I knew this was a matter of time

that this guy was
going to make it.

I've been rhyming a long time,

and battle rap is everything,

you know what I'm saying?

It is the equivalent of being
completely vetted in hip-hop,

you know what I'm saying?

Because you learn crowd control,

those lyrical choices,
that storytelling.

That's not stuff
that you can make up.

You can't fake that.

Eminem is forged in battle rap.

He's what I call a
natural-born killer.

And then he took that
to the Rap Olympics,

where all the best rappers
battle for number one.

♪ I'ma tell you this
for your own benefit ♪

♪ Your shit was dope as hell ♪

♪ Especially when
you wrote 90% of it ♪

The first prize was $500,
and I needed that $500, man,

and I lost.

I was fucking devastated.

For him to lose, he was crushed.

But an intern approached
him and said, "Hey, man,

can I have one of your tapes?"

And then he left to go
back home to Detroit

to try to continue
to make music.

All of a sudden, we get
a call from Jimmy Iovine

and Dre himself saying,
"We want to meet with you.

We like your tape."

Dr. Dre, to me,

is the greatest
producer of our time.

♪ You never been on a
ride like this before ♪

♪ With a producer who can
rap and control the micstro ♪

♪ At the same time ♪

The first time I
heard Eminem was in,

um, Jimmy's garage,
where he used

to have a listening section.

And back then, it was
just cassette tapes,

and he popped this
one in, and he said,

"What do you think about this?"

And it just happened
to be Eminem's demo,

and it had five songs
on it, and one of them

was a song called "I
Just Don't Give a Fuck."

♪ When you see me on your
block with two Glocks ♪

♪ Screaming fuck the
world like Tupac ♪

♪ I just don't give a fuck ♪

I thought it was just
fucking fascinating.

I had no idea that
what I was listening to

was a white guy, right?

I had no idea.

I just knew that I
wanted to work with him.

Dre was just all in.

And when Dre likes
something that much,

we really pay attention,
especially me.

So I was kind of like,
OK, fly this guy out here.

And when you first met,

what did you think
of each other?

I thought he was Tweety Bird.

-No, 'cause he had this real...
-Fuck you.

He had this real bright
fucking yellow sweat suit on.

Man, if I hear one more thing

about that goddamn sweat suit.

Why are you wearing
a yellow sash?

The yellow sash.

Um, in honor of
Eminem's yellow jumpsuit

the day he met Dre,
which I think is just

such a magical moment in itself.

But he called me a
banana when he met me,

so it was on from there.

Dre has always been
pushing the edges.

And this guy starts on the edge,

so it was a... it was a
marriage made somewhere.

Without Dre, I don't know
where Eminem would be,

and what shaped him
in his earlier life

carries on with him even now.

Hey, Em, what's
going on? It's Paul.

Uh, listen, if you wanna talk

to those camera crews, go ahead,

just don't say a
bunch of dumb shit.

All right, call me back.

There's a lot of
method to this madness.

I always keep this shit,
Entertainer's Secret.

Shh. Don't tell nobody.

Um, it's, uh... actually,
Rick Rubin told me about this,

and ever since the day
he told me about it,

I've been using it for the
past seven years straight.

I use it onstage. It's
fucking incredible.

Especially, like, you know,
my voice only lasts so long,

especially if I'm
doing, like, some, like,

screaming shit or something.

So like, this is the... this
is my best friend right here.

What's it taste like?

Uh, semen.

Not that I know how that tastes.

But if I were to guess,
I would say semen.

I go through pens.

I did go through a couple years

where I was trying to
use red ink and blue ink,

different colored inks
for different color ideas,

like different ideas and
shit, but it didn't work.

I just stuck to the black
and just stayed with it.

Every time I write, there's
different stages of it,

and that's one of the reasons
that I keep a book now

and I never get writer's block.

I'm always able to
go back in my book

and have unlimited ideas.

Sometimes I just write
my rhyming words down

and not the stuff in
between, so that it can't be

put together if
someone finds it.

To see his lyric sheets,
I mean, this is...

this is magic right here.

If I could own an original piece

I would frame this in my home,

and I'd point it out
to any fucking people

that walked in.

I'd make them look
at it with me.

I'd make them dissect it
under a microscope with me.

I'd make them say,
"oh, yo, this song...

this line went into this song."

I'm looking at something

that resembles my grocery list.

I write like this.

My husband hates it.

I seriously write the same way.

I want to pick this man's brain.

Like, it's a lot of
just, like, scribbles

and, like, thoughts.

But wow, this is...

yeah.

There's... there's a
lot of cursing on here.

But I think it says,

"Fuck, I'm sick of
duckin' in public."

When I look at the
handwritten lyrics,

I feel like I see a busy brain.

Seeing how he gets the
things out of his brain

that way definitely influenced
me to get your thoughts out

and making sense of them.

You know, I have a
PhD, but it's not

in typography or whatever.

But it's like, it certainly
looks like someone

who is dealing with
some intense emotion.

It looks like it was
very scribbled down

kind of hastily,

and trying to spontaneously
capture something.

I think it was, like, a
"Rolling Stone" interview.

They asked him if he
ever thought about

going to a shrink, and
he said he don't need to

'cause his music is his
therapy, and honestly,

that's... that's the
best therapy there is.

Like, when you have an
outlet, something that you're

passionate about,
and you use that.

That's the best way.

My childhood certainly
wasn't the greatest.

I always took that learning
experiences from my childhood

and life lessons
and kind of was able

to apply them through my music.

I definitely find
relatability in him

because he's somebody
who has written

so honestly about struggling,
and I feel like that's why

so many people
can relate to him.

I had the greatest
life in the world,

coming from a
single-parent home.

You know, my mother
never had a job.

I hate to say that, you know.

But, um, it took a toll,
man, being bounced around

from school to school to
school to school to school,

from state to state.

And friends come
over and you don't

want them to see your
family's on welfare and shit,

so you hide the cheese
and shit like that.

You know, that's real.

I mean, it's funny,
but it's not funny,

you know what I mean?

It's like I look back
on it like, damn,

that's fucked up,
you know, but...

My mom and I had a pretty
unstable relationship

growing up, and there
was a lot of struggles

with finances 'cause it
was just the two of us.

I also came out as
a transgender man,

and transness, or
even queerness,

was not a conversation
in the area I grew up in.

Being born female, it was
a very isolating, like,

feeling to not really
know anyone else

who I could relate to.

His struggles with bullying
also lined up with mine.

There was a lot of moments
where I didn't make...

like, I wasn't sure if I would
make it out on the other side.

Eminem was bullied relentlessly

in elementary school.

And it's horribly tragic
to me because even now

I carry some of the traumas

of my own life
from being bullied,

and I can feel that in some
of the music he's written.

So in the song "Brain Damage,"

Eminem or Marshall is
getting bullied at school.

You know, bleeding on the carpet

and then having your parent
being like, look at you,

you're getting blood
all over my rugs...

I felt that.

Growing up, I would
get into fights.

I'd get into fights
a good amount.

I'd get bullied from other kids

calling me a faggot
for wearing tight pants

because I was a skater kid.

Going into my room,
and then putting on

a song like "Brain Damage,"
that's what helped me.

It was sophomore
year, and I went to go

to a Super Bowl party
with my friends.

We were watching the Super Bowl,

and I had my hands in my head...

my head in my hands like this,

sitting on the ground with
my stomach on the ground,

looking up at the TV.

And a kid on the couch
spilled his iced tea

and went, "Oh, I know what I
can use to pick that up with,"

and grabbed his other friend.

They picked me up by my feet
and used my hair as a mop

and then threw me on
the ground, and I was...

these were supposed
to be my friends.

It made me sometimes not
want to go to school,

but I went because I
had Marshall's music.

I would put my CD player on

and just walk
through the hallways.

He inspired me to write.

I write poetry.

I loved how he could just
bend the English language,

use different words to
rhyme off other words

that necessarily wouldn't rhyme,

like orange, door
hinge, syringe.

That's great.

His music made me feel like
I wasn't alone in this world,

with what I was going through.

Hip-hop was the
most important thing

that empowered me as a kid.

It made me feel
tough when I wasn't.

I was a scrawny little
kid growing up on 8 Mile,

walking up the fucking
block, put headphones on,

and it made me feel powerful.

Hip-hop, it taught me how
to throw my first punch,

gave me the confidence.
It was like my dad.

And it was the only thing
that made me empowered.

It made me feel
good about myself.

And when I started being
able to write rhymes

and figured out I could do it,

that's where the
feeling comes from.

As a teenager, I definitely
had a lot of anger.

I haven't met my father in
person since I was probably,

like, one or two or something.

But I never had anybody
that I could relate to

in that regard growing up.

Whenever he would talk
about his father too,

he always sounded so angry.

So I always gravitated
more towards

the angrier-sounding Eminem,

and Slim Shady was his alter ego

and split personality for that.

Eminem, Slim Shady,
Marshall Mathers.

Could you briefly tell
us where one stops,

the other one begins,
and the difference

between the three
different characters?

Marshall Mathers stops
when the Bacardi kicks in,

and then it's Slim Shady.

Marshall is the
human being where

the heart and the human
experience come from.

Eminem is the artist
through which Slim Shady

and Marshall are channeled.

That's where you see the
skill and the talent.

And then Slim Shady is
this cartoon character.

Slim is, uh, the
jokester, the hey,

I'm here for a good time.

A crazy son of a bitch...

Um, that I love.

He has, like, this
I-don't-give-a-fuck attitude.

He's like a psycho,
but in a good way.

Uh, says whatever the
fuck he wants to say.

He'll probably kill if you
look at him the wrong way.

I'm putting the mask on.

I'm like, I can be me.

I can say what I want.

I can flip a fucking
desk if I needed to.

Even though he was
just being himself,

people didn't like that.

People did not like that at all.

I mean, let's just
say the least,

it was a trying time.

We were criticized enormously
for putting his music out.

That controversy was covered
extensively by the media.

While Black rappers
often get a pass

on lyrical nihilism,

Eminem, who's white,
has been taking

some intense critical heat for
his jokey, hard-nosed rhymes.

In Eminem's songs,
women are portrayed

as little more than strippers,

punching bags, and
sperm receptacles.

It's so sad to see
those parents dropping

their children off and saying,

I don't know what the
lyrics are all about.

[Vivaldi's "The Four
Seasons, 'Spring'"

Perhaps one of the
most interesting words

in the English language
today is the word "fuck."

Out of all of the English words

that begin with the letter F,

"fuck" is the only word that
is referred to as the F-word.

It's the one magical
word, just by its sound,

can describe pain,
pleasure, hate, and love.

In English, fuck falls into
many grammatical categories.

As a transitive
verb, for instance:

"John fucked Shirley."

As an intransitive verb:

"Shirley fucks."

It can be used as an adjective,

such as, "John's doing
all the fucking work."

As part of an adverb:

"Shirley talks
too fucking much."

As a noun:

"I don't give a fuck."

With all of these
multipurpose applications,

how can anyone be offended
when you use the word?

Say it loudly and proudly.

Fuck you!

You rap about raping
and killing women,

but you really don't do
that, do you, Eminem?

-Yes.
-You do rape and kill women?

Yes.

Uh, are you amazed at the, uh,

the firestorm that has
begun, and are you afraid

it could be a career-destroyer?

Um, I'm not worried
about it because anybody

with half a brain is
going to be able to tell

when I'm joking and
when I'm serious.

With the first album,
"The Slim Shady LP,"

all of a sudden,
now it's important.

What I have to say is important.

I remember one of the first
times signing autographs,

there'd be, like, a
line out the door,

and somebody would be like,
yo, I just want you to know,

man, you helped me so much
for... for this or for that.

So now I'm like...

What's your name?

Writing a long paragraph
for them and shit,

and signing their name,
and people are like, yo,

can you speed it
up a little bit?

'Cause we're not going
to get to everybody.

-Hello.
-Can I have a hug?

How you doing?

I was living inside it
when it was all new to me

and I still didn't
understand it.

You know, this guy
has been somebody

that I've been trying
to meet for a long time,

and he's not easy
to get close to.

Since I was 14, I
had this fandom in me

that I wanted to, like, express,

and I just didn't know how to.

I remember the first
portrait tattoo that I got,

being really anxious
about the pain.

It's like a scratch,
quite a sharp scratch,

and it depends kind of

what it is that
you're having done.

Like, the lines are
the worst because it's

being dragged against your skin.

But I fell in love
with the process

of tattooing that day.

I've kind of described it
as, I walked in one person

and left a different person.

And then it kind of
snowballed after that.

In 2020, I set the
Guinness World Record

for having the most tattoos
of the same musician.

It has become my identity.

Now that I've got
the ink, I feel like

I've got to have a
possibility of meeting him.

The first time I
met Marshall was

for the "Rolling Stone" cover.

I was just shown into,
like, a conference room,

and no one else was in there.

And I sort of asked the
security guy to let me in.

Like, just, hey,
is Marshall around?

I just want to say hi,
and all that stuff.

So he pointed to a
door that I didn't

realize was the bathroom.

And, uh, and I opened it
up, and I heard him puking.

He came out of the stall.

I was like, uh, hi, Marshall,

it's really nice to meet you.

Put my hand out.

I'm Anthony from
"Rolling Stone,"

like, super dork.

And he just looked at
me and, like, burped...

And, like, walked out.

One of the three venues we
went to that first night was,

like, a 16-year-old's
birthday party.

You know, it was
basically Beatlemania.

They were grabbing at
him, pulling at his shirt.

The police were there
to, like, make sure

that the limo got in and out.

There were girls, like,
putting their boobs

on the glass of the car.

I remember him saying,
like, you're pretty cute.

I love you too, but
I'm not going to jail.

The night went from,
you know, then until

about 4:00 or 5:00
in the morning.

And for the whole time,

he didn't speak a
word to me at all.

So I've got my little circle
of family and friends,

people that I've
basically grown up with,

because I feel
like, at this point,

anybody that I meet
after this only knows me

for Eminem or Slim Shady
and doesn't know Marshall.

So that's why I keep
those friends around,

'cause I know that those
are the people that

really care about me for me.

I think it was a
defense against, like,

the attention, the
fame. Just survival.

Just trying to, like, take it in

and figure out what
the hell's happening,

'cause it happened so fast.

-So you show it to Eminem?
-Oh, yeah.

-Yeah?
-Yes.

Hello, Eminem.

It's really an eye-opener
to see how crazy

some people do get for Eminem.

I travel the world for him.

Nobody here.

Just me and the camera.

Oh, no.

Well, one of these have
to be the jet for the day.

Want that one? Or even that one.

Paul's telling me to put
on my fucking seat belt,

like if the plane
crashes, it's gonna help.

I've seen Eminem in concert
about 30-something times.

15 different cities

in six, seven
different countries.

I'm a parrot.

I'm an embarrassed
parrot in Paris.

-Oh, Eminem!
-Eminem!

Eminem!

I made this costume
because I wanted to wear

something very eye-catching.

They actually put me on camera

throughout the stadium,

and some random man
put me on his shoulders

to, like, showcase it.

I was hoping, of course,
he's gonna see my costume,

and he's gonna
think it's so cool,

and he's gonna invite
me on stage and meet me.

I was asking Paul
today, I was like, uh,

why do people want
to talk to me?

And he was like, you rap well,

you say a lot of personal shit,

and your music and
your life is like

the fucking "Jerry
Springer Show."

"I didn't really
start doing drugs

"until I rapped about them.

"When I was on tour
rapping about Vicodin

"or mushrooms or ecstasy,

people started throwing
that shit my way."

"I couldn't believe the effect

"my lyrics had on people.

They thought we were
literally drug addicts..."

"And that they
could get backstage

"and bring us substances.

"It was wild.

Welcome to rock and roll."

Yo, they were so
loud, we couldn't rap

for, like, 10 minutes.

Just seeing, like,
how he was living

and the breakneck pace,

instant stardom, instant fandom,

and people starting
to get obsessed.

What the fuck?

I was just rooting
for him to, like...

to hang on for the rocket ride.

England, we're out of here.

We love you. Thank you.

Peace.

Were you prepared
for how much the fans

would connect with you?

What I put out
was very much, um,

raw and, like, just real,

as far as situations in
my life and how I came up

and shit like that.

And I think that
that's maybe one

of the things that
made some people

feel like they could relate.

It was a weird, strange
kind of adjustment,

and my personality wasn't
well-equipped to handle that.

"FANatic."

I've never gotten into any music

like I've gotten
into Eminem's lyrics.

Like, once I started listening
to him, I couldn't stop.

We are at the restaurant
that Eminem worked at

before he made it big.

Around the time Marshall's
really starting to blow up,

there's a million channels.

You know, the Internet
starts picking up.

This is where Eminem
spent most of his time.

This is the phone
Eminem touched.

Content is just at its
infancy of becoming king.

From a media standpoint,
you are really

now into the minutia
of what it takes

to hold on to an audience.

And what that came
down to for us, really,

was like, the fan experience,
we gotta go even more.

What was your best
subject in school?

Oh, my God, none.

Maybe English. I was
all right at English.

Everything else I
was horrible at.

I was the worst.

Fans just had such an
insatiable appetite

for more and more access

to the artists that they loved.

I mean, now you're really
opening the floodgates

for people who see that

to live vicariously
through that moment

and go, "Well,
that's all it takes."

"I'm just going to jump
on a plane to Detroit

"and go find 8 Mile
and walk around,

"and I can just
have the experience

that they just showed me."

I was in my early 20s

when I started
working at Gilbert's.

And I knew Eminem
worked there, obviously,

so I was like, fuck it, I'll
go work where Eminem worked.

Like, I always wanted to,

so one more thing
closer to Eminem.

And I stayed at
that bitch for...

for, like, 10 years,

'cause I'm like, he's
going to come in.

That's crazy.

The whole
neighborhood's gone now.

Me and Proof used to climb
this tree all the time.

And we would sit up in the tree,

and he would always
climb higher than me

'cause he wasn't
afraid of heights.

I was.

Um, and we would just sit there

and talk about, like,
what we was going to do

once we made it as rappers.

We shot here when the
house had been condemned,

but it wasn't burnt down yet.

And, like, I don't
know if you've ever

been to, like, a house, go
back when you were a kid...

everything seems smaller.

Bro, that motherfucker
was like, here to here,

you could touch the
living room walls.

We tried to buy it, and the city

had already condemned it.

So they wouldn't sell it to us.

Did it ever occur to
you that fans would

come here and make a pilgrimage?

It's cool that people care,

but it's also weird,
still, 'cause you're like,

but it's me, you
know what I'm saying?

Like, why?

It's really not
that big of a deal.

When Em was blowing up,

there was lots of kids
with white T-shirts

and bleach blonde hair.

But again, this might
be by Em's own doing.

I mean, the videos, the
imagery that he put out,

it's this million-white-boy
army behind me, you know?

Like, I am you.

♪ May I have your
attention, please ♪

♪ Will the real Slim
Shady please stand up ♪

♪ I repeat, will the real
Slim Shady please stand up ♪

I was at the MTV Awards
when Marshall came out

and that gang of fucking dudes

followed him up on stage.

Everyone around me kind
of fucking locked in,

like, what is... what's
going on right now?

Who the fuck is that guy?

It was hands-down like, yeah.

Like, that dude right
there, he's... he's...

he's fucking...
he's cooler than me.

When Eminem came on the scene

and when they seen the
bleach blonde hair,

it kind of infected
the whole world.

So many kids were dyeing
their hair yellow,

dressing in, you
know, baggy clothes.

And I saw it.

So, you know, I had guy
friends that were like, oh,

I'm Slim Shady, you know?

And I'm just like,
no, you're not.

It was who they were now.

It wasn't like, hey, I'm going
to go down to Times Square.

I'm gonna... you know,
I'm gonna pay homage

to Em and, you
know, do my thing.

It was like, I'm becoming him.

Nine years old, you know?

One day I wanted to...
to make my hair blonde.

You feel like a real Shady.

Every people who
look at you, they...

they know what is about,
you know, Shady, man.

Eminem is absolutely like
an unwilling cult leader.

He's someone who did not
want to take up that position

but has been, to no
fault of his own,

kind of thrust into it.

Eminem, ladies and gentlemen.

-Big day.
-Right.

-New album is out.
-A really big day.

-Yeah.
-Really big day.

"Mathers LP" is out.

Now, that's your real name.

-Is, uh... does that mean...
-It's my real name.

That this is sort
of more of, like,

reflective of who
you are? Or, uh...

I think so.

I think I got kind of
personal on this album,

and just basically I just wanted

to let people know that this
is... this is the real me.

This is all jokes aside,
you know what I'm saying?

There's a lot of songs
on the album that

are like that, that
are like, you know,

more serious than
the first album.

Right.

Actually, we're listening
to it right now,

a track called "Stan."

It's the third
track on the album.

What's... what's all this about?

Explain this to me.

Um, basically, it's just
about crazy fan mail

that I get from people.

And it's about, like, a
kid who is really sick,

you know what I'm saying?

And... and takes everything
that I say literally.

What inspired me to
write "Stan" first

was when I got the beat

and it had the
Dido sample in it.

"But your picture on
my wall reminds me

that it's not so bad."

I felt like, that is...

that line right there,
that's LL Cool J to me.

Like, LL Cool J was
one of the rappers

who helped get me through
so much childhood shit.

I kept thinking,
like, oh, my God,

am I LL Cool J to somebody else?

Instantly, I was
like, yo, this has

got to be about,
like, an obsessed fan

who's taking my shit too
literal, and slow down.

I'm not... I'm just Marshall.

Like, I'm not your
fucking savior.

Let me in!

What?

Stanley, what are you
doing to yourself?

What, the hair?
You don't like it?

-Stanley!
-You like it?

Stanley! Don't...

Don't call me that, OK?

Don't call me that.

Don't you think you're
taking this too far?

-Stanley.
-Here.

Stanley!

I was listening to the lyrics.

I was just like,
this is amazing.

I mean, I just think
his lyrics on that song

are absolutely
brilliant, you know?

He's, to me, the
ultimate storyteller.

♪ And I can't see at all ♪

♪ Even if I could,
it'd all be gray ♪

♪ But your picture on my wall ♪

♪ It reminds me that
it's not so bad ♪

♪ It's not so bad ♪

♪ Dear Slim, I wrote you,
but you still ain't calling ♪

♪ I left my cell, my
pager, and my home phone ♪

♪ At the bottom ♪

♪ I sent two letters
back in autumn ♪

♪ You must not have got 'em ♪

♪ There probably was a problem ♪

♪ At the post office
or something ♪

♪ Sometimes I
scribble addresses ♪

♪ Too sloppy when I jot 'em ♪

♪ But anyways, fuck it,
what's been up, man ♪

♪ How's your daughter ♪

♪ My girlfriend's pregnant too ♪

♪ I'm 'bout to be a father ♪

♪ If I have a daughter,
guess what I'ma call her ♪

♪ I'ma name her Bonnie ♪

♪ I read about your Uncle
Ronnie too, I'm sorry ♪

♪ I had a friend kill
himself over some bitch ♪

♪ Who didn't want him ♪

♪ I know you probably
hear this every day ♪

♪ But I'm your biggest fan ♪

♪ I even got the underground
shit that you did with Skam ♪

♪ I got a room full
of your posters ♪

♪ And your pictures, man ♪

♪ I like the shit you
did with Rawkus too ♪

♪ That shit was phat ♪

♪ Anyways, I hope
you get this, man ♪

♪ Hit me back just to chat ♪

♪ Truly yours,
your biggest fan ♪

♪ This is Stan ♪

♪ My tea's gone cold,
I'm wondering why ♪

I used to write
him all the time.

I was like, hi, I'm
your biggest fan.

I love you so much.

When I was like, 12, yeah.

Yeah, I wrote him a letter.

And then later on, I
would write and be like,

your music is saving my life.

Thank you for everything.

I actually took a few hours
writing all the things

I wanted to, but I thought
it was, I don't know,

like too much like "Stan."

I wrote one email
about 10 years ago.

I haven't heard nothing back,

but I'm still got
my fingers crossed.

It's only been 10
years. We good.

♪ Dear Slim, you still
ain't called or wrote ♪

♪ I hope you have a chance ♪

♪ I ain't mad ♪

♪ I just think it's fucked
up you don't answer fans ♪

♪ If you didn't
want to talk to me ♪

♪ Outside the concert,
you didn't have to ♪

♪ But you could have signed
an autograph for Matthew ♪

♪ That's my little
brother, man ♪

♪ He's only six years old ♪

♪ We waited in the
blistering cold for you ♪

♪ For four hours and
you just said no ♪

♪ That's pretty shitty, man ♪

♪ You're like his fucking idol ♪

♪ He wants to be
just like you, man ♪

♪ He likes you more than I do ♪

Stan, he's a really, really,
really hardcore fan of Eminem,

and he believes he's in, like,

a parasocial
relationship with Eminem.

Parasocial relationship
is a one-way

mediated relationship where
it's like, there is Eminem.

He's on stage performing.

He's in music videos.

And you start to feel
like you know this person.

♪ Bad ♪

Over time, parasocial
relationships,

they increase in
psychological intensity.

They can develop into what's
called identification.

You become so absorbed,

you start to take
on his attitudes

and beliefs and behaviors.

♪ I can relate to what
you're saying in your songs ♪

♪ So when I have a shitty day ♪

♪ I drift away and put 'em on ♪

♪ Because I don't ♪

After that you get to
what's called worship...

♪ I even got a tattoo of
your name across the chest ♪

Is when you treat
the media persona

like a godlike figure.

It is the less healthy place

you want to be on the spectrum.

♪ See, everything
you say is real ♪

♪ And I respect you
'cause you tell it ♪

♪ My girlfriend's jealous
'cause I talk about you 24/7 ♪

I mean, I could relate.

I was like, yeah, that happens.

Really awesome
fans that can get,

you know... you're
like their best friend,

and you don't even know it.

♪ Sincerely yours, Stan ♪

♪ PS, we should
be together too ♪

♪ My tea's gone cold,
I'm wondering why ♪

The connotations from the song

are somebody that
is a crazy fan.

It's probably how a
lot of people see me,

I would imagine.

♪ Dear Mr. I'm Too Good
to Call or Write My Fans ♪

♪ This will be the last
package I ever send your ass ♪

♪ It's been six months
and still no word ♪

♪ I don't deserve it ♪

♪ I know you got my
last two letters ♪

♪ I wrote the addresses
on 'em perfect ♪

Reaching out, reaching
out, and no answer.

I could see how that
could affect someone.

♪ Hey, Slim, I drank
a fifth of vodka ♪

♪ You dare me to drive ♪

♪ You know that song
by Phil Collins ♪

That's extreme.

But then at the same
time, I was so someone

that was like, well,
why isn't one of my...

why isn't it one of my
letters he's reading?

♪ That's kinda how this is ♪

♪ You could have rescued
me from drowning ♪

It was one of
those moments where

I had to look in the
mirror and be like, wow,

am I one of these crazy Stans?

♪ Well, gotta go ♪

♪ I'm almost at the bridge now ♪

♪ Oh, shit, I forgot ♪

♪ How am I supposed to
send this shit out ♪

I was shocked.

I mean, my first reaction
was, did this actually happen?

I don't think he's
a real person,

but it's definitely
possible that there's

somebody out there like that.

I think there are people
out there that have

that type of mental obsession
over another person,

and I believe that it does
come from a real place.

Whether it is exaggerated or not

is all depending on the creator.

But I believe it is
coming from a real place.

If it wasn't a real person
who actually did do that...

It's a message to
all of his fame.

Hi.

But the word "Stan"
changed with the time.

Stan, in 2024, it's
being crazy of something.

Like, very, very crazy.

Like, really, really crazy.

I never killed my wife.

I've never been crazy like him.

I don't have a wife, by the
way, but I'm just saying.

Well, so...

OK, so you guys
think this about me.

That's fine.

Not because I don't want to,

but because it
was too big to me.

I had and I still have a dream,

is to travel and
discover Detroit.

Because I grew up with
Eminem, so I wanted to...

to know and to understand
where Eminem came from.

So my family thought that

that was all bullshit,

that I spent my
money for nothing.

But you know, when you're
passionate about something,

just do your dream.

That's it.

♪ I'm beginning to feel
like a rap god, rap god ♪

How do you know
Eminem's not here?

Because I was back in Paris

after a beautiful
week in Detroit.

I cried.

If "Stan" sort of
showed mainstream people

who didn't understand how
powerful a rap song could be,

if "Stan" did that to them...

Then "8 Mile" did that on a
much more mainstream scale

across all swaths of culture.

He was a global phenomenon.

How are you feeling?

-I feel good.
-You feel good?

Yeah.

All right, next up is
my boy Bunny Rabbit.

He's a genius, man, a
motherfucking genius.

DJ, kick it.

Choke, choke,
choke, choke, choke,

choke, choke, choke, choke!

I believe what they did
with "8 Mile" was amazing,

the way that they loosely based

a lot of things on his life.

And it wasn't full full-fledged,

this is what happened, but...

so it keeps me excited
because my imagination

starts going like, all
right, so what was real?

What wasn't real?

Is that story true or not?

Did that really happen when
they were in the parking lot

in the shelter?

Yo, that's like one of the
best movies of all time,

if you're a rapper, 'cause
it wasn't over the top.

It seemed like real-world shit,

going through it with his mom.

What are you doing
with your life

that's so great, Rabbit?

Freestyling in the
car with Proof.

♪ A 1928 Delta ♪

♪ This shit won't even
get me to the shelter ♪

Breaking up with his girlfriend,

all this extra shit.

Like, that was real-world shit.

Him showing a glimpse
into what he went through

right before he got
famous, it showed the world

that it's like, hey, I
come from this background,

but it doesn't define me.

It is who I am, but I am
so much more than that.

In my mind, we're connected.

In one way or another,
in this universe,

there's a connection.

Yo, you... you're me.

You're a regular dude.

This is not lights,
camera, action.

This is Marshall Mathers,
and I followed the story.

And most parts, I
lived the story.

It enhanced my
fandom of him because

I just saw how relatable he was.

And I didn't have, like,
a male figure in my family

or, you know, in my
household to look up to,

and I really looked up to him.

"8 Mile" did the most to
explain Eminem to the world.

There were all these critics
who were anti-Eminem.

Maureen Dowd, one of them
at "The New York Times,"

she had a bunch of
columns, you know,

saying he was a misogynist
and all the other things

that he was controversial for.

And then after "8
Mile," she had a column

about having a crush on
him and talking about him

with other soccer mommies

and listening to him at the gym.

It explains him to
a wider audience,

contextualizes him, but it also

is myth-making, for sure.

And I think that
to the fans that

aren't able to separate
the man from the myth,

this might as well
be a documentary.

My first guest is
a young man who is

on top of all of his games.

He's got the number-one
song in the country,

the number-one album
in the country,

and soon, the number-one
movie in the country.

Give it up for Eminem.

And then it's such chaos
out there that unfortunately

we're going to have
to shut the shades,

but it's a real
sight to be seen.

In the history of
MTV, I have never

seen anything quite like it.

I remember being in the theater

that first night watching
that, going, "Fuck, man."

"Now, that's an opening
weekend for a fucking guy

who's not a movie star."

He just became a
movie star like that.

The movie is out.

-How you feeling?
-Good.

Yeah?

You're a little overwhelmed?

A lot overwhelmed, but, um...

Proud too.

-I'm proud too, you know?
-Yeah.

I'm proud and I'm... I'm happy.

I'm excited.

You know, if it
wasn't for these fans,

I wouldn't have
got to this level

to be enabled to do my own
movies and things like that,

and have this kind of power
and this kind of control,

and I'm loving it.

Yo, let me ask you this...

I was just looking up some
stuff about Eminem online,

and this girl was
talking about how

she apparently was spending time

with him while he was on tour.

Like, some fan
girl he picked up.

And I thought at first that
that was real, so I'm like,

did somebody really put
that... like, that hap...

somebody put that
out? That's insane.

Then when I scrolled
down to the end,

it said fan fiction.

The next thing I knew,
that was all I was reading,

'cause it was kind of addictive.

And after, like, about three
or four months of reading it,

I was like, why don't
I write one myself?

I just imagined what his
head space would be like.

It's very presumptuous
of me to say,

oh, I'm writing
this as Marshall,

even though it literally
says Marshall's point of view

when I write it.

But you know, it's
'cause it's fiction.

It's OK.

Do you feel like you
have an understanding

of who Marshall actually is?

It's kind of hard
to tell with Eminem

because he's like...

as much as he puts
personal shit in his songs,

he probably shows us only
what he wants us to see.

What's up, ladies?

I was sharing a lot...

Aw.

And made it like a
fucking open book.

And then sometimes
you want to close

that book back a
little bit because

did you share too much?

What's up? I'm Marshall,
and I'm gonna to punch you

in the fucking throat.

Do you have anything
left to keep to yourself?

I can't fucking work like this.

You're stressing me out.

"-" Before I was
famous, everything

"was moving in slow motion.

"Now it seems like
somebody has pressed

"the fucking fast
forward button,

"and my life just
seems to be rushing by.

It sometimes feels
like a strange movie."

I couldn't imagine
how jarring it is

to go from being where
he started out in 8 Mile

to the level of fame
and success and wealth

and confinement that comes
along with celebrity.

Unreal.

Hey, Em.

Don't... don't come
over here, man.

Hey, Em.

All right?

Hey, have a good concert.

The way that he talks
about fame in his music,

it's like he wishes
that he could just

go and be a normal person
and go to the store

and things like that.

And I think it feels
like an invasion.

Yo, what's up, Eminem?

So are you gonna...

Good to see you, man.

Every single day I'm on
the Eminem subreddit.

There is 800,000 Stans.

We have guys from
India and Pakistan,

and like, just all...
all over the world.

We theorize, and we go
back and forth, and we try

and, uh, figure out what
goes on in his daily life.

Would be really
cool to know, like,

does he go to the
gym in the morning?

Or does he play basketball,

or is he in the studio all day?

It feels incredibly
euphoric to me

because every post...
every post you go through

and every little thread
of information you get,

it gives you one step closer
to getting closer to the man.

Em!

Em!

You can look at
your smartphone now

and look at social
media and feel like

you have a direct line
to these people now.

There's definitely
a very thin line

when you go from
that follow button,

and then all of a sudden,
you're following someone.

Conversely, I'm following them.

And it's like, I need
to know every new thing

about this person, and I
think that takes some people

down some dark roads.

I'm sure it feels like a prison,

where you can't go anywhere
without being recognized.

There's definitely a
shift of him becoming

a little bit more withdrawn

from all of the fame.

I live in that same area
where I do hear from people,

like, oh, my God,
Eminem moved here

and his address is this,

and oh, I was trick-or-treating,

and I went to his house.

And it's like he can't
even live normally.

I've always been like, oh,
I want to meet him so bad.

It's almost like a
double-edged sword,

because what would I do,
run up to him and be like,

oh, my God, Eminem?

And that's, like,
not what he wants.

But at the same time,
it's, like, all I want.

I remember one
time me and Hailie

went to the mall in LA.

It was the last time I went
to the mall as me, right?

Like, not fucking disguised.

And, um, every store we
went in, we come out,

and there's another...
a bigger crowd

and a bigger crowd
and a bigger crowd.

And it got to the point
where I was like...

I picked her up, and
I'm like, come on,

kiddo, time to go, right?

And I'm walking, and
as I'm walking faster

and faster and faster,
they're walking

faster and faster and faster.

And I literally felt
like I was being chased

out the fucking mall.

And that was one
of those moments

where I realized, like, my
life really has changed.

Like, I can't... I can't
do this anymore, right?

'Cause I got to protect my baby.

So that was a scary...
that was a scary moment,

and scary for her too.

I asked her. She... she
doesn't remember it.

She was too little
to remember it.

But I remember it, and
it was fucking crazy.

But people do not
realize how dangerous...

Some people who are
attracted to Eminem

might not be the
best-intentioned people

and who could be
aggressive or violent.

We've seen it with other
artists, who a super-fan

has, you know, come after them.

I definitely feared
for his safety.

Sometimes you get obsessive fans

that are mentally unstable.

I'm protective of Eminem.

Oh, my God, if anything
happened to Em... oh, my God,

I'd come swinging.

You just never know, within
this profession that we have,

if there's somebody
out there lurking

that's creating this
fantasy in their own head

because you're not
responding to them.

That's the scariest shit ever.

Following and tracking him

like he's not a regular person,

you're not a fan at all.

11 years of policing,
I've seen all kinds

of dark, twisty shit.

When you get that famous,
you can't talk to everybody.

You can't say hi to everybody.
You can't meet everybody.

And so I don't think that
this kid Stan got that.

If the Stan character
existed today,

he would certainly follow Eminem

on every platform,
maybe run a fan page,

definitely on Eminem Reddit.

Would be writing to
him on each of his

social media accounts every day.

With the song "Stan,"
it's almost like

a PSA to his fans, like,
please don't do this.

This is not what I want.

When I saw him in 2005's
Anger Management tour,

I was in college.

Came there to the
show with my friend.

This is when he was touring
nationwide with D12...

Yeah, man, we out here
having a good time

on this tour, so far, so good.

And with 50 Cent...

-50...
-No, don't tell me.

I know I did good.

And with Lil Jon and
the East Side Boyz.

We out, bitch!

Which to this day has
been one of the best

tours that I've ever seen.

The atmosphere of
touring and the partying

and getting up in the morning
and catching the flights

and the plane and the jet lag

and riding the bus and
not being able to sleep,

it's hard.

It ends up running you down.

We're done in Detroit.

Europe next.

Wow.

It's almost like I have
to get off the road

every now and then and take
a break, or I'll go crazy.

I was supposed to be going
to see him in Manchester,

and he canceled
because he was...

well, exhaustion, he... he
told everyone at the time.

It was a bit of a shock.

I actually had tickets for him,

whenever the Anger Management
tour was that he canceled.

I had tickets to that show.

I remember at the
time being obviously

supremely disappointed,
but it wasn't a secret,

the struggles that
he was going through.

That's why I'm pill-adverse,

knowing how it got to him.

Even... I think I had,
like, my wisdom teeth out

and whatnot, and I wouldn't
even take the hydrocodones

because I'm like, I can't take
too many because this is...

this is the stuff
that'll get you.

I was on vacation
for a few days,

and I came back, and my
mom came to pick me...

pick me up at the airport.

And she looked at me like she
never looked at me like this

before, and she said,
"Zolt, someone from

Eminem friends passed away."

Rapper Deshaun Holton,
better known as Proof,

one of the founders
of the rap group D12

and a close friend of
sometime D12 member Eminem,

was shot and killed at
a Detroit nightclub.

He was 32 years old.

Proof often shared
the stage with Eminem.

He was even the best
man at Em's wedding

this past January,
but he was also...

I want you to listen to
him, give him a chance.

Put your hands together
for the funky honky Eminem.

My name is Slim Shady.

Yo, this is MC Proof,
and this is my DJ...

I cry.

I immediately cry.

I said to my mom, "Sorry,
I can't go to the school.

It's too much for me, too much."

It took three months, and
even after three months,

when I came back to
the... to the school...

Man.

Even thinking about it really
want to make me cry about it.

When he lost Proof,
I cried with him

'cause I knew
exactly what he felt.

I lost my cousin,

and I lost him in
a bad, bad way.

The one person that
had my back since

I was a kid, that
always was with me,

is not here to help me no more.

All I was doing was
just popping pills

and just laying in bed all day.

If he died, I should die.

That's how I felt.

I'm sorry. Give me a second.

You know, just, I've
lost a lot of people.

Um, I've lost my
sister. I lost my dad.

I lost my nephew.

So all, like, my close
family's, you know,

halfway gone.

Um, but my nephew
was, like, the worst,

'cause he was, like,
my best friend.

In 2016, like January, he like,

complained about
having a sore neck,

I think it was, and
doctors were like,

oh, sinus infection,
this, this, this.

My sister was
taking him every...

like, all the time,
like... and he was someone

that never complained.

Um, he would never tell
you when he was sick,

so that was already odd.

So finally some
doctor was like, yeah,

no, this is stage IV lymphoma.

You know, when my nephew passed,

I was like, fuck this,
and I tried to overdose,

um, after his funeral was over.

I woke up in the hospital
with my heart doctor

at the bottom of
my bed like a dad,

just telling me never
to do that shit again,

and I listen to Eminem
because him losing Proof,

I feel like I really
can resonate with that

because that was
literally my other half.

Why is it so rare
that the public

gets to see Eminem
nowadays? What's...

Yeah, why is it like that?

I actually need him
to make my music.

So he be busy.

And he had the white shirt
with big Proof on the shirt.

It was... I didn't...

I didn't want to see
Marshall like this, so...

Guys, you gotta tell
me, what's the latest

with the new D12 album?

It's all in the memory of Proof,

-everything that he was.
-Shout out to Proof.

-You know what I mean?
-Yeah.

Rest... rest in peace, big baby.

It was one of the
toughest times,

if not the toughest time in
his life, that we know of.

And it was kind of, I think,
a when it rains, it pours.

My dad, he passed unexpectedly
when I was entering

my freshman year of college.

You know, listening to him
talking about his grief

and the lows that
he went through...

I mean, I connect to that.

♪ And Proof I'm truly
sorry if I let you down ♪

♪ But this tore me in two ♪

♪ The thought of no
more me and you ♪

♪ You gave me shoes,
Nikes like new ♪

♪ For me for school ♪

♪ Doody, I'm trying, but
you, you were the glue ♪

♪ That binded so
many things, time ♪

♪ I'd give anything
to rewind it ♪

♪ I had to walk down my halls
and constantly be reminded ♪

♪ By pictures all on my walls ♪

♪ And I couldn't
sleep at night ♪

♪ 'Cause that image
burned in my brain ♪

♪ Of you on the table, me
falling across your body ♪

♪ Not able to
stand to save you ♪

♪ God, why did you take him? ♪

I was really
worried for Marshall

during those years,
for his well-being,

spiritually, physically.

Didn't know how it was
going to alter the future.

I'd got into this
vicious cycle of,

I'm depressed so
I need more pills.

And then your
tolerance gets so high

that you end up overdosing.

I woke up in the
hospital, and I didn't

know what the fuck happened.

Like, it... it seemed like I...

I fell asleep, and I woke up,

and I woke up with
tubes in me and shit.

I wanted to get up.

I couldn't move.

After the overdose,
I came home going,

yo, bro, I need something,
and I fucking went to town.

So I was really, like,
inside knowing, like,

I need to fucking...

I'm going to die if I don't...
if I don't do something.

I had this video
that they brought me

because I missed Hailie's
first guitar recital.

The amount of guilt that I felt,

I cried when I saw
it 'cause I was like,

oh, my God, I missed that.

And I kept saying to myself,

"Do you want to fucking
miss this again?

Do you want to miss everything?"

If you can't do it for yourself,

you fucking pussy, at
least do it for them.

I realized I'm never
doing this again.

When I heard the news
that he, like, overdosed,

I was like, fuck. Like, damn.

Like, he could have actually...

he could have really died.

For me with celebrities,
it almost feels

like they are untouchable.

So whenever you hear
that a celebrity

died or almost died,

it's always like... it
hits you differently

from, like, uh, like
a normal person.

I was just in shock.

So I made a point,
I'm playing Eminem

every single day

until he gets out and
until he gets better,

until... until he
comes back to his rap.

And that's what I
did, every single song

over and over on replay.

While I was sitting in detox,

I didn't know exactly

what I was going to
do with my career.

At that time, I
was just thinking,

like, this can't be it.

Like, in the back of
my mind, of course,

I'm scared that it is.

No new music, no new
tours, no new interviews,

no new jokes,
whatever the case is.

It's just, he'd be gone.

To me, it was like,
Eminem, I know it's hard,

but one day you are coming back.

I had to relearn
how to walk, talk,

and, for the most part,

had to relearn how to rap again.

My writing had gotten terrible.

What did it feel like when
it started to work again?

Um, when I started
to get it back,

it was exciting
because I felt it.

It would be in conversations,
just having conversations

with people or the TV.

Like, every... every phrase
that someone said on TV,

oh, you said the word "the."

Duh, uh.

It was hitting me really fast,

and I was writing
songs really quickly.

What... what's going on?

What are you guys doing?

Do you mind if I come out and
maybe join you or something?

You wanna come
out? Come on, baby.

-Eminem!
-Get over here.

When he first
announced "Relapse,"

it felt like Christmas to me.

Because when an album comes out,

I listen to an
album front to back,

and then back to front,

and then to the end again,
for months at a time.

So listening to "Relapse"
was amazing to me,

just to hear that he's back.

I was just so, so ecstatic,
so proud, and so happy

that I could hear him again.

Number one, you look good.

Number two, you're
number one right now,

as far as your
album's concerned,

and number three,
you're number one

in the UK as well.

So congratulations.

-How does it feel?
-Yeah, thank you.

It feels great.
I mean, I'm just,

you know, I'm glad to be back.

Guess who?

You miss me?

Jessica Simpson,
sing the chorus.

♪ When you walked
through the door ♪

♪ It was clear to me ♪

♪ Clear to me ♪

♪ You're the one they adore ♪

♪ Who they came to see ♪

♪ Who they came to see ♪

♪ You're a rock star ♪

You know what I love
about your work,

and I'm sure many people do,

is there's a sense
of humor. It's funny.

Uh, you diss some people
in the new single.

-Some.
-Yeah.

♪ Back by popular demand ♪

♪ Now pop a little Zantac
for antacid if you can ♪

As wickedly shrewd and
sharp as he is lyrically

with these scathing
disses of other people,

he was equally on his own case,

equally making fun of himself.

And all of that makes
you endearing to people.

His disses were always funny,

and he did something
with his voice.

Different character, right?

Flowing pretty
damn cool, though.

The whole, like, weird accent
thing that he did on it

kind of threw me off.

Then when I listened to it more,

I'm like, damn, I was missing
out on, like, some good shit.

The response that I got
from "Relapse" was lukewarm.

That hurt a little bit, but
it also turned the lights on.

Like, you got to do
something different.

Why don't you try
embracing sobriety?

I realized, like, I'm not
embarrassed anymore about it.

And I started treating
sobriety like a superpower,

and I took pride in the fact
that I was able to quit.

"Recovery" was a breath
of fresh air for him.

I think it really
sounded like someone

who was reclaiming his own
life and his own narrative.

Getting sober and going
through what he went through

made him a totally
different person and artist.

He just used different
flows and different cadences

and ways of rapping on tunes.

So for me as a fan,
it was like becoming

a fan of a totally new artist.

I was there in the front.

Everybody here tonight
who is an Eminem fan,

man, I just want to say

thank you for the support, man,

and not giving up on me, man.

I love y'all and I couldn't
have did it without you,

so this song is for you.

- ♪ I'm not afraid
- Sing it, y'all.

- ♪ To take a stand -
Get this business right.

- ♪ Everybody - I
guess I had to...

♪ Come take my hand ♪

-Go to that place...
-♪ On this road together ♪

To get to this one.

And some of you might
still be in that place,

♪ Let you know,
you're not alone ♪

Trying to get out.

♪ Holla if you feel that ♪

♪ You've been down
the same road ♪

♪ Read my lyrics
off of this paper ♪

♪ Before I lay 'em ♪

♪ But you won't take the
sting out these words ♪

♪ Before I say 'em ♪

♪ 'Cause ain't no
way I'ma let you ♪

♪ Stop me from causing mayhem ♪

♪ When I say I'ma do
something, I do it ♪

♪ I don't give a
damn what you think ♪

♪ I'm doing this for me ♪

♪ So fuck the world,
feed it beans ♪

♪ It's gassed up if it
thinks it's stopping me ♪

♪ I'ma be what I set out to be ♪

That album helped rectify
a lot of things in my life.

Talking about going
through losing his friend,

talking about the
sleeping pill addiction.

I'm just like Marshall.

There's times when,
in a 48-hour period,

I'd blow through 30 to 45
Ambien, like it was nothing.

♪ Like a fuck you
for Christmas ♪

Watching how he's gotten sober,

I didn't feel the need
to numb myself anymore.

♪ I'm not afraid,
I'm not afraid ♪

♪ To take a stand,
to take a stand ♪

I'm sitting down
at home one day,

and I'm just drinking,
and I pop the pill,

and "Not Afraid" came on.

I took it like he
was speaking to me.

And that moment, that day,

that night gave me
that push to say,

I'm done.

I have a wife now. I have a kid.

I have responsibilities.

I can't... I have to stop this.

So if I didn't act
on it in that moment,

I would have been screwed.

He was by my side, helping me

so I could be completely
clean and clear out my head

and start doing
something with my life.

♪ Put my life back
together right now ♪

♪ It was my decision
to get clean ♪

♪ I did it for me ♪

♪ Admittedly, I probably did
it subliminally for you ♪

♪ So I could come
back a brand-new me ♪

♪ You helped see me through ♪

♪ And don't even
realize what you did ♪

♪ 'Cause believe me, you ♪

♪ I've been through
the wringer ♪

♪ But they can do little
to the middle finger ♪

♪ I think I got a
tear in my eye ♪

♪ I feel like the
king of my world ♪

♪ Haters can make like
bees with no stingers ♪

♪ And drop dead ♪

♪ No more beef lingers ♪

♪ No more drama from now on ♪

♪ I promise to focus only on
handling my responsibilities ♪

♪ As a father ♪

♪ So I solemnly swear to
always treat this roof ♪

♪ Like my daughters
and raise it ♪

♪ You couldn't lift a
single shingle on it ♪

♪ 'Cause the way I feel
I'm strong enough ♪

♪ To go to the club
or the corner bar ♪

♪ And lift the whole
liquor counter up ♪

♪ 'Cause I'm raising the bar ♪

♪ I'd shoot for the moon ♪

♪ But I'm too busy
gazing at stars ♪

♪ I feel amazing, and ♪

♪ I'm not afraid,
I'm not afraid ♪

♪ To take a stand,
to take a stand ♪

♪ Everybody, everybody ♪

♪ Come take my hand,
come take my hand ♪

♪ We'll walk this road
together through the storm ♪

♪ Whatever the
weather, cold or warm ♪

♪ Just letting you know
that you're not alone ♪

♪ Holla if you
feel like you've ♪

♪ Been down the same road ♪

When I was young, I
was really using music,

and often times Eminem's
music, to self-medicate

for my generalized
anxiety disorder.

Just kind of having
a hard time with life

and just processing
different emotions,

from being bullied at school
or wanting to date girls

and being rejected.

Like, you know, all the things
that come with adolescence.

As I got older, I
started at UNC and

led a team of researchers,
and we analyzed

rap lyrics from 1998 to 2018.

We saw mental health
references go from 8% to 44%.

Our findings were a reflection

of society changing,

and there were certain
artists early on,

Eminem among them,

who really kind of normalized it

and made it OK to talk about
these difficult feelings

and emotions.

There's so much strength
in vulnerability,

and that is such
a powerful thing.

That's one of the reasons
for Eminem's success.

When he's really vulnerable,

and he takes you there, when
he's talking about himself,

and the downsides of himself,

those are the things
that I gravitate to

more so than anything.

♪ I'm a Rubik's,
a beautiful mess ♪

♪ At times juvenile, yes ♪

♪ I goof and I jest ♪

♪ A flawed human, I guess ♪

♪ But I'm doing my
best to not ruin ♪

♪ Your expectations
and meet 'em ♪

♪ But first the
"Speedom" verse ♪

♪ Now, Big Sean,
he's going too fast ♪

♪ Is he gonna shout
or curse out his mom ♪

♪ There was a time I had
the world by the balls ♪

♪ Eating out my palm ♪

♪ Every album song I was
spazzing the fuck out on ♪

♪ And now I'm getting
clowned and frowned on ♪

♪ But the only one who's
looking down on me ♪

♪ That matters now's Deshaun ♪

♪ Am I lucky to be
around this long ♪

Eminem was one of

the most important
people in this trend.

He made it more acceptable
for other artists

to really talk about
these complex emotions.

I really felt like those
lyrics were written for me.

It's extremely therapeutic,

and I don't take
that for granted.

He really has gone through
so much and struggled,

and I felt connected
to him in a way

that I ended up changing
my legal name to Marshall.

It's kind of a reminder
to not feel like I have to

apologize for who I am.

I originally wrote
this letter to Eminem

three months ago,
but I never sent it.

"Dear Eminem, I'm
not sure you're going

"to get this or even read it.

"I'm just going to write down
how I feel about everything,

"because, honestly, you're
one of the only people that

"are helping me get through
this, even if I'm just

"a random 14-year-old girl

"probably having one
of those mood swings.

"Don't worry, I won't end
up like your song 'Stan, '

"even though it's
one of my favorites.

"But it will never
beat 'Mockingbird.'

"That fucking song
saved my life.

"My parents are constantly
fighting about stuff

"that don't even matter.

"And it gets annoying, because
when I say something about it,

"I get blamed for it.

"And the only one that
I feel cares about me

"is my brother,
because he was the one

"that had me listening to
you ever since I was born.

"He's in his 20s,
and I love him a lot,

and I wish my parents..."

"Loved me as much as he did.

"I thought about how much
you care about Hailie

"and just wish
they cared about me

"as much as you did with her.

"It's crazy that your songs
and even your silly interviews

"make me feel happier
than my family ever did.

"I know I'm just
another Eminem fan who

"has a sad backstory or
some other shit like that,

"but you're such a cool guy.

"I admire you, and
if my parents did,

"maybe they'd be an even
better parent like you are.

Hope you get this, Kripa."

Why do you think you
chose him as an outlet

for your tough feelings?

Um, sorry, wait.

Um, probably because, like,

he's had a really tough
childhood too, so I feel like,

um, he would relate
a little bit.

Taking my feelings out with,
like, writing something...

sorry.

Um, I feel like it, like,
makes me feel better.

I feel like it
makes me feel better

'cause there's also
other people out there

going through the same thing.

And so if they see
what I'm going through

and what, like,
Eminem went through,

maybe they'll know
that a lot of people

also go through the same things

that, like, other people do.

A big part of my
tattoos have been about

facing up to my mental health.

A lot of people really
didn't like my world record.

What a stupid record.

It's ridiculous.

It can hurt when... when
people say horrible things.

I've been told that I
need to be locked up,

I should be in a mental place.

Although I read the
negative things,

and it's hurtful,

it would never
change the fact that

I've continued to
get the tattoos.

Do you have a
favorite Eminem song?

I usually say "Not Afraid."

There are a lot
of positives, too,

because my Instagram has
brought a lot of other fans

who really relate to
me in a lot of ways.

And I met my husband.

He's a really big
Eminem fan as well,

and he reached out to me.

It's really nice to
have somebody that

gets the whole Eminem thing.

I get these impulsive
thoughts in my head.

I was like, we should
get married in Detroit.

We got married at
St. Andrew's Hall,

which is one of the first
places that Eminem performed.

And now we've got a son.

Without Eminem,

I wouldn't have the
life I have right now.

What do you think is meant
by "The Death of Slim Shady"?

Who knows how he means it?

He's a satirist.

He could be, like,

saying let's cancel Slim Shady.

Which is kind of funny
to even think about.

Slim Shady can't be canceled.

"The Death of Slim Shady"
is a concept album,

so you gotta listen
from start to finish,

um, and it's about Slim
Shady, his character

that he started 25 years
ago, and how his character

would be in this age.

♪ Sometimes I wonder
what the old me'd say ♪

♪ If what ♪

♪ If he could see the
way shit is today ♪

♪ He'd probably say
that everything is gay ♪

♪ Like happy ♪

♪ What's my name,
what's my name ♪

♪ Chicka Slim Shady ♪

This album is about,
I'm not holding back.

I'm gonna do everything
I can to get canceled.

♪ If I think that shit,
I'ma say that shit ♪

♪ Cancel me, what,
OK, that's it ♪

♪ Go ahead, Paul, quit ♪

I'm not sure people
actually understand now

that Slim Shady is a character.

I feel like the new album
just offended more people,

but I think that that was
kind of the intention.

The world is in a
very different place

to where it was in 1999.

Gen Z wants to cancel him.

Nobody can cancel Eminem.

Jesus Christ himself

will have to come down
and cancel Eminem,

and he ain't coming down either.

As his fan base, we all
grew into this whole family,

and we're going to
protect this man

by any means necessary.

Going online and seeing people

trying to cancel Eminem,

that is soft,

and fuck you if
you don't like it.

Throw up a middle finger
and let it linger.

I don't give a fuck, mostly.

Calm down, Slim.

We both made Eminem.

He's the best of both of us.

And, really, it's
not about me or you.

It's about him and the fans.

Damn.

I don't even want
to fucking admit it,

but your bitch ass is right.

I'm embarrassed.

When I'm in Paris,
I'm embarrassed

of my parents' parrot.

I'm sure 200%, 1,000%.

Everyone, no matter
how old or young,

will appreciate Eminem's music.

♪ A-B-C-D, A-B-C-D ♪

♪ E-F-G, E-F-G ♪

♪ H-I-J-K, H-I-J-K ♪

People who have
not been born yet

will follow his music,

reopen "The Slim Shady LP,"

and love him from
start to finish.

I'll be looking down proud,

like, yeah, damn
straight, y'all.

You get that white tee on.

You get those baggy blue jeans.

For sure. Rock it.

A hundred years from now,
in the catalogs of catalogs,

you'll be able to go back
and listen to "Lose Yourself"

or "The Way I Am," and you'll
know Eminem was that guy.

All great artists
have the ability

to reinvent themselves.

And yet, I feel like every
time a lot of artists

do that, they always sacrifice
a little bit of something,

and Marshall's never
sacrificed anything.

He's, like, remained true
to the first day I met him.

I'm just happy I
went after my dreams

'cause it inspired another
kid to go after his dreams,

you know?

The fact that he had
enough personal empathy

to write something where

the fans' feelings
are being considered

tells you who he
is, and for that,

I love and respect him.

It's a crazy thing
when all of a sudden

you go from being someone
no one cares about

to someone that a lot
of people care about.

What he's done with his
life is extraordinary.

He has grown to be a
fantastic human being

that is really fucking
dope at his craft.

He's an amazing father,
and I can't wait to see

what he's going to
turn out to be next.

Coming here, were you
expecting to see Eminem?

Maybe.

I don't... that
would be really cool.

Half yes, half no.

Yes and no.

I didn't really expect it,

but I had thoughts
about it, you know?

I was hoping that Eminem
was going to be here.

He's a busy man.

He's got a song that
he just dropped.

He's got an album that
he's dropping soon.

I just wouldn't think
he had the time.

Oh, my God, what
would I even do?

What would I even say?

I would probably just throw up.

I don't know.

If I ever met Eminem,
I would probably die.

I don't even know, man.

I'd be speechless.

2013.

He was in Paris
for his new album.

And the car, they're going.

And I was like, no,
I'm not going to...

to see Marshall, and
15 seconds later,

the car stopped.

"Marshall want to see you."

And every fan who was there

turned their head on me.

He knew my name, so I was like,

holy shit, he knew my name.

The bodyguard was like,

OK, OK, OK, Zolt,
you go in the car.

Man, thank you.

Thank you for your
music, for everything.

When you're an
artist like Marshall,

you don't have time.

You do not have
time for anything.

I think he probably was shocked

because nobody will
tell him you have to go.

But, you know, I'm the
guy who respect his time.

I think that people
imagine Stans as being,

you know, violent and deranged.

But in reality, being
a Stan and being a fan

can actually be a positive
and beautiful thing.

I've lost a lot of
people in my life,

but the one thing that has
really gotten me through

all those losses
has been Eminem.

Eminem has always
been a constant

throughout my entire
life, and for a long time,

I really felt unlucky

because I wasn't
able to meet him.

It's like the
carrot's right there,

but it's like I can't
figure out how to get to it.

Now my mindset has changed,
because I feel like

this documentary is
a lot more personal

than it would be just me
to Em saying, hi, huge fan,

take a picture.

Now he kind of can understand
exactly how I've become a...

like, how I've been
a fan for so long

and, like, similar
kind of struggles,

I guess, we've been through,

and just how his music has
truly influenced my life

and helped me through really,
you know, traumatic times.

But a true die-hard fan
really does, I think,

understand me and
every aspect of me

and understands that I
am just a regular person.

I'm just a fucking human being.

The reason they connect
with me is because

they see some of
themselves in me.

Maybe they were
bullied as a kid.

Maybe the world fucking
dealt them a raw deal.

But for every young
person that gets older

and wants to pay
the world back...

that's the person that
connects with me the most,

because they understand me,

and I feel like I
understand them,

and I get them because
they're really me.

The fans that have grown
with me from day one

till now, it's,
like, unbelievable

that they're still with me,

and I'm very blessed to this day

to still have people that
ride for me like that.

To my fans, thank you.

I love y'all, and I am...

I would not be here,
if it was not for you.

So I owe you my life,

and that's who I do
my music for is them,

and fuck everybody else.

Fuck 'em. Fuck 'em.

Eat a dick.

You don't like it,
eat a fat dick.

Hey, Em, it's Paul again.

I watched the movie, and we
got to talk about the ending.

Give me a call back.

♪ And I want to thank you ♪

All right, I only
got one minute,

and I'm at work, and I'm
at, like, 4% on my battery.

OK, Gracie, one
minute to do this,

so my daughter's gonna help me.

Please excuse me. I just got up.

Um...

Marshall Mathers is...

I can't believe I
have this opportunity

even to make this video,
and you might see this, dog.

Just know I wouldn't
be me without you.

I'm your biggest fan,
Marshall Mathers/Eminem.

Detroit, baby, Detroit.

I'm Lisa Mathers, and this
is Sir Slim Shady Mathers II,

but we call him Shady for short.

Just want you to know
that I'm Em's biggest fan

because I'm pretty much
the female version of him.

Was just married August
26th of last year

and walked down the aisle

to the instrumental
to "Lose Yourself."

Bum, bum, bum, bum.

All my friends and
family were like,

whoa, let's get it.

I am Stan. Stan I am.

It's kind of like
Dr. Seuss, but no.

I have two Eminem tattoos.

One on my chest. One
on the other chest.

And a D12 tattoo.

I listen to Eminem music
every fucking single day.

I live Eminem, you can say.

Mr. Mathers, I love you.

From Japan.

This is a piece of the
tree of the old house

and a flower from the
new house right here.

Doesn't feel too great,
but, at the same time,

it kind of does.

Hello, Eminem.

I'm a fan, and I listen to
your music all the time.

Have a wonderful day and
take care of your family.

Bye.

♪ Is having the best
day of my life ♪