Eminem’s brother Nathan reacts to mom Debbie Nelson’s death with scathing post

Eminem’s half-brother Nathan took a parting shot at their mom after her death, saying on his Instagram story he was filled with ‘hatred and mixed emotions’.

Nathan ‘Nate’ Mathers, a DJ and music producer, shared his thoughts hours after Debbie Nelson’s passed away aged 69.

Although Eminem is yet to comment on the passing, Nate’s stinging response comes after years of turbulence in his relationship with his mother, which ended with the rapper gaining custody of his brother aged just 16.

Nate’s father, Fred Samra, was one of Nelson’s boyfriends after Eminem’s father Marshall Mathers Jr., abandoned the artist when he was a baby, however he was not on the scene during the brothers’ childhoods.

At aged eight, Nate’s life was upended when he was placed in foster care, and Eminem said he vowed to ‘get in a position to take him’ back in – adding to Rolling Stone in 2004: ‘I tried to apply for full custody when I was 20, but I didn’t have the means.’ 

Nate was eventually adopted by his rap legend half-brother aged 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 be the dad that I am today.’ 

Nate, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his scathing response to his mom’s passing, has gone on to work in the music industry like his brother, and releases music under the name Nate Kane.  

Eminem often cited his half-brother Nathan in his songs, seen together with Kid Rock in 2001

After news of Nelson’s death circulated, Nathan took to Instagram to share his thoughts, saying he was filled with ‘hatred and mixed emotions’ 

Following news of Nelson’s passing, attention quickly turned to the Eminem’s years-long feud with his mother, who he publicly eviscerated for her past addictions and alleged abuse of him as a child. 

But while the rapper’s turbulent relationship with mom Debbie Nelson led to nationwide notoriety – and often compared it to his on-off 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 chase success’, but was ‘defamed and shut out when he got it.’ 

Following Nelson’s death on Monday aged 69 from lung cancer, 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 spats and lawsuits targeting the rapper’s millions.  

The pair’s relationship seemed beyond repair by 2002, when Eminem released hit song ‘Cleanin’ Out My Closet’, in which he branded her a ‘selfish b****’ who he hoped would ‘burn in hell.’

The lyrics read: ‘You could try to justify the way you treated me, Ma? But guess what, you’re gettin’ older now, and it’s cold when you’re lonely. 

‘And Nathan’s growin’ up so quick, he’s gonna know that you’re phony. And Hailie’s gettin’ so big now, you should see her, she’s beautiful – but you’ll never see her, she won’t even be at your funeral.’ 

The lyrics referenced 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: ‘Hatred and mixed emotions today.’ 

Eminem’s mom Debbie Mathers, who passed away Monday aged 69, endured 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 was still supporting the rapper until she was ‘defamed and shut out’ when he got famous 

Nelson was born in 1955, and said in her memoir that she grew up in a ‘large dysfunctional family’ where she was left to raise her five siblings when her parents divorced when she was 10. 

She told Rolling Stone that she married Eminem’s father Bruce Mathers when she was 15 and he was 22, and she gave birth to Marshall when she was 18 in 1972. 

Bruce abandoned his family soon after Marshall was born, and Nelson said it was left up to her yet again to take care of her family. 

She claimed to have supported Eminem’s early rap career, but as soon as he found success, Nelson became a frequent target of his lyrics. 

The first public falling out between Nelson and her son came in 1999, when she launched a $10 million lawsuit after Eminem rapped in 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 suit. After lawyer’s fees, she was left with only $1,600, according to People. 

The loss in court did little to deter Mathers from continuing to slam his mom in his lyrics, and within a year he released ‘Kill You’, where he rapped about Nelson: ‘Just bend over and take it like a s***, okay Ma?’ 

Nelson married Eminem’s father when she was 15 and he was 22, and she gave birth to the rapper, real name Marshall Mathers, two years later 

Following ‘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 was not a perfect mother, but didn’t hold back on her son as she said: ‘Will the real Marshall Mathers please stand up? And take responsibility for his actions?’ 

‘I went without seeking half/It was wrong on me and I see it now as giving you everything. And never questioning anything you did. As you were perfect in my eyes. My unconditional love created a spoiled young man,’ she said in the song. 

While 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, where she said her son was not the ‘overnight sensation’ he presented himself to be. 

‘At first I went along with it for Marshall’s sake – if I made one mistake as a mother, it was giving in to my eldest son’s every whim,’ she wrote.  ‘He never knew his father, and I did all I could to make up for it. 

‘I wasn’t happy when he made up a whole new life for himself – what mother wants to be known as a pill-popping alcoholic who lives on welfare? 

‘To tell the truth, I was heartbroken… I think he’s forgotten the good times we had, and this book is my way of setting the record straight.’ 

Nelson published her tell-all memoir My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem in 2008, where she said her son was not the ‘overnight sensation’ he presented himself to be.

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 basically swallowing your pride. It’s like a cashed check. It’s over, it’s done. You need to move on.’ 

Eminem’s relationship with his mom followed the rapper in subsequent years, and although they never appeared to reconcile completely, he shocked fans in 2013 by apologizing. 

In his song Headlights, he specifically said he was sorry for ‘Cleanin’ Out My Closet’, saying he cringes ‘every time it’s on the radio.’ 

‘Cause to this day we remain estranged and I hate it though. Cause you ain’t even get to witness your grandbabies grow,’ he sang at another point. 

‘And I’m mad I didn’t get the chance to thank you for being my mom and my dad.’ 

While estranged, the most recent time either directed a line to the other in public came in 2022, when Nelson reached out to her son on Twitter after he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

‘Marshall, I want to say, I could not let this day go by without congratulating you on your induction into the Hall of Fame. I love you very much. I knew you’d get there. It’s been a long ride. I’m very, very proud of you,’ she wrote.