Eminem’s half-brother Nathan took a farewell photo of their mother after her death, saying on his Instagram Story that he was filled with “hate and mixed emotions.”
Nathan “Nate” Mathers, a DJ and music producer, shared his thoughts hours after Debbie Nelson passed away at the age of 69.
Although Eminem has yet to comment on the death, Nate’s testy response comes after years of turbulence in his relationship with his mother, which ended when the rapper gained custody of his brother at the age of 16.
Nate’s father, Fred Samra, was one of Nelson’s boyfriends after Eminem’s father Marshall Mathers Jr. had abandoned the artist when he was a baby, but he was not on the stage during the brothers’ childhood.
At the age of eight, Nate’s life was turned upside down when he was placed in foster care, and Eminem said he vowed to “be in a position to take him back in.” Rolling stone in 2004: “I tried to file for full custody when I was 20, but I didn’t have the resources.”
Nate was eventually adopted by his rap legend’s half-brother at the age of 16, and Nate said he became a father figure to him.
In a rare interview with Eminem’s daughter Hailie Jade on her podcast “Just a Little Shady” in 2023, Nate said, “He was the best role model I could have had to help me become the father I am today.”
Nate, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his devastating response to his mother’s death, has joined his brother in the music industry and releases music under the name Nate Kane.
Eminem’s half-brother Nathan ‘Nate’ Mathers said goodbye to his mother Debbie Nelson on Monday after her death following a turbulent upbringing
Eminem often quoted his half-brother Nathan in his songs, appearing with Kid Rock in 2001
After news of Nelson’s death spread, Nathan took to Instagram to share his thoughts, saying he was filled with “hatred and mixed emotions”
Following the news of Nelson’s death, attention quickly shifted to Eminem’s long-standing feud with his mother, whom he publicly eviscerated due to her past addictions and alleged abuse of him as a child.
But while the rapper’s turbulent relationship with mother Debbie Nelson led to national fame — and was often compared to his temporary marriage to Kim Scott — Nelson claimed in a tell-all memoir that the opposite was true.
She said in her 2008 book My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem that she “encouraged her talented son to pursue success” but was “insulted and ostracized when he got it.”
Following Nelson’s death from lung cancer on Monday at the age of 69, it appeared the mother and son never resolved their differences.
Although Eminem, real name Marshall Mathers, eventually apologized to Nelson in his 2013 song “Headlights,” they reportedly remained estranged — the result of years of public feuding and lawsuits against the rapper’s millions.
The pair’s relationship seemed beyond repair in 2002, when Eminem released the hit “Cleanin’ Out My Closet,” in which he branded her a “selfish b****” who he hoped would “burn in hell.” .
The text read: ‘You could try to justify the way you treated me, mom? But guess what, you’re getting older now, and it’s cold when you’re lonely.
“And Nathan’s growing up so fast, he’ll know you’re a fake. And Hailie is getting so big now that you should see her, she’s beautiful – but you’ll never see her, she won’t even be at your funeral.”
The lyrics reference the rapper’s half-brother, Nathan, who took his own parting shot at his mother hours after her death was announced by TMZ, captioning an Instagram story: “Hate and mixed emotions today.”
Eminem’s mother Debbie Mathers, who died Monday at the age of 69, had a turbulent relationship with the rapper that included multiple lawsuits and combative “diss tracks.”
Eminem in his early career with Nelson and daughter Hailie Jade, when Nelson claimed she still supported the rapper until she became ‘insulted and left out’ when he rose to fame
Born in 1955, Nelson said in her memoir that she grew up in a “large dysfunctional family” where she had to raise her five siblings when her parents divorced when she was ten.
She told me Rolling stone that she married Eminem’s father Bruce Mathers when she was 15 and he was 22, and that she gave birth to Marshall in 1972 at the age of 18.
Bruce left his family shortly after Marshall was born, and Nelson said it was once again left to her to care for her family.
She claimed to have supported Eminem’s early rap career, but once he found success, Nelson became a frequent target of his lyrics.
The first public feud between Nelson and her son occurred in 1999, when she filed a $10 million lawsuit after Eminem rapped in the song “My Name Is”: “I just found out my mom does more dope than I do.” .’
Nelson reportedly only won $25,000 despite winning the lawsuit. After attorney fees, she said, she was left with just $1,600 People.
The court loss didn’t stop Mathers from continuing to criticize his mother in his lyrics, and within a year he released “Kill You,” in which he rapped about Nelson: “Just bend over and take it like f***, okay Mom?’
Nelson married Eminem’s father when she was 15 and he was 22, and two years later she gave birth to the rapper, real name Marshall Mathers.
After “Cleanin’ Out My Closet,” Nelson surprised many by releasing her own “diss track” aimed at her son in a little-known song “Dear Marshall.”
She opened the spoken word song, “Marshall, I want you to know that I still love you.”
Nelson admitted she wasn’t a perfect mother, but didn’t hold her son back as she said, “Will the real Marshall Mathers please stand up?” And take responsibility for his actions?’
‘I went without half looking. It was wrong of me and I see that it gives you everything now. And never doubt what you did. Just like you were perfect in my eyes. My unconditional love created a spoiled young man,” she said in the song.
As Eminem’s career took off, Nelson struggled to repair her reputation, and she continued to live a quiet life in Missouri and Detroit, estranged from her son.
To tell her side of the story, Nelson published her tell-all memoir My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem in 2008, in which she said her son was not the “overnight sensation” he presented himself as.
“At first I agreed for Marshall’s sake. “If I made one mistake as a mother, it was giving in to the whims of my eldest son,” she wrote. “He never knew his father, and I did everything I could to make it right.
‘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 living on benefits?
“Honestly, I was heartbroken… I think he forgot the good times we had, and this book is my way of making things right.”
Nelson published her tell-all memoir My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem in 2008, in which she said her son was not the “overnight sensation” he presented himself as.
Nelson, pictured outside her Detroit home in 2005, said in 2022 that although she and her son were estranged, she was “very, very proud” of his legendary rap career.
That same year she said in an interview with The Village Voice that she wouldn’t rule out rekindling their bond, saying: ‘It’s a matter of just swallowing your pride. It’s like a cashed check. It’s over, it’s done. You have to move on.”
Eminem’s relationship with his mother followed the rapper over the next few years, and while they never seemed to fully reconcile, he shocked fans in 2013 by apologizing.
In his song Headlights, he specifically said that he regretted “Cleanin’ Out My Closet” and that he cringes “every time it’s on the radio.”
Because to this day we remain estranged and yet I hate it. ‘Cause you can’t even watch your grandkids grow up,” he sang at another point.
“And I’m angry that I didn’t get the chance to thank you for being my mom and dad.”
Although they were estranged, the most recent time they publicly took aim at the other came in 2022, when Nelson reached out to her son via Twitter after he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“Marshall, I just want to say that I couldn’t let this day go by without congratulating you on your induction into the Hall of Fame. I love you very much. I knew you would get there. It’s been a long ride. I am very proud of you,” she wrote.