Eminem Sued By His Childhood Bully After Calling Him Out In A Song & Detailing His Vicious Attack
He allegedly broke his nose and put him in a coma.
There was a time when bullying was kept under wraps and kids who were subjected to it kept their anguish and despair to themselves.
Parents would have no idea that their child was suffering until their kids were past the bullying or it was too late.
Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, was one of the kids harassed and bullied during his adolescence.
Unlike many victims, he had an outlet via his music that allowed him to put out therapeutic lyrics about that experience — but his outlet would eventually backfire.
Eminem was sued by his former bully after he named him in a song.
In the second verse of his 1999 song, Brain Damage, from The Slim Shady LP, Eminem details the heartbreaking events of his childhood. The lyrics alone are enough to make you empathize with him and the abuse he suffered. He raps:
"Way before my baby daughter Hailey
I was harassed daily by this fat kid named D'Angelo Bailey
An eighth grader who acted obnoxious, 'cause his father boxes
So everyday he'd shove me in the lockers"
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The track goes on to describe vicious the bullying Eminem claims to have endured, mentioning a beating that left him bloodied and with a broken nose after Bailey allegedly smacked him into a urinal repeatedly.
The bullying was so bad that his mother, Deborah, sued the Detroit School system for their failure to protect her son.
After the release of 'Brain Damage,' D'Angelo Bailey admitted to bullying Eminem.
In a 1999 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Bailu said, “There was a bunch of us that used to mess with him. You know, bully-type things. We flipped him right on his head at recess. When we didn’t see him moving, we took off running. We lied and said he slipped on the ice.”
Though Bailey had already confessed to doing exactly what he was accused of, two years after his admission, he sued the rapper for $1,000,000.
In that lawsuit, Bailey alleged that the story of bullying was made up for Eminem to gain credibility in the rap game.
In the lawsuit, his attorney was quoted as saying, “Eminem is a Caucasian male who faced criticism within the music industry that he had not suffered through difficult circumstances growing up and he was therefore a 'pretender' in the industry."
"Eminem used Bailey, his African American childhood schoolmate, as a pawn in his effort to stem the tide of criticism.”
In late 2003, Judge Deborah Servitto of the Macomb County Circuit Court ruled that Eminem did not cause Bailey any damages or slander him when he name-checked him in his lyrics.
But she didn’t stop there. She decided to recite some rap lyrics she had penned just for that occasion.
The judge rapped, “The lyrics are stories no one would take as fact. They’re an exaggeration of a childish act."
"Any reasonable person could clearly see that the lyrics could only be hyperbole,” she stated as she handed down the verdict.
NyRee Ausler is a writer from Seattle, Washington, and author of seven books. She covers lifestyle and entertainment and news, as well as navigating the workplace and social issues.