Eminem and his only sibling, half-brother Nathan “Nate” Mathers, lost their mother, Debbie Nelson, 69, on December 2, 2024, and the latter took to Instagram to share a heartfelt message. He admitted that he was struggling with "hatred and mixed emotions."
Eminem's brother's message comes hours after Nelson passed away. The two shared a rocky relationship with her through the years, with the rapper gaining full custody of Nate when he was 16.
Eminem's brother Nathan calls him the "best role model" he's ever had, says it was him who taught him how to be a dad
Back in 1986, Debbie Nelson and her boyfriend, Fred Samra, had a boy, Nathan. Eminem's father, Marshal Mathers Jr., left him and his mother when he was just an infant. However, at 8 years old, Nathan was forced into foster care. As reported by People Magazine, Eminem revealed that at the time, he tried to take his brother under his wing, but couldn't:
"When he was taken away I always said if I ever get in a position to take him, I would take him. I tried to apply for full custody when I was 20, but I didn’t have the means.”
It was only when Nathan turned 16 was Eminem able to become his legal guardian. In 2004, the Rap God rapper reflected on the woes of watching his younger brother go through the trenches of foster care during an interview with Rolling Stone:
"I watched him when he was in the foster home. He was so confused. I mean, I cried just going to see him at the foster home. The day he was taken away, I was the only one allowed to see him. They had come and got him out of school. He didn’t know what the f— was going on. The same thing that had happened in my life was happening in his. “It was like, ‘Man, if I get in position, I’m gonna stop all this s—.’ And I got in position and did.”
Today, Nate credits the rap legend with being a father figure to him. In a 2023 interview with his niece, Eminem's daughter Hailie Jade on her podcast Just a Little Shady, he said:
"He (Eminem) was the best role model I could have had to help me be the dad that I am today."
Nate works in the entertainment industry as an actor, DJ, and music producer. During the same appearance on Just a Little Shady, Nathan credited his brother for sending him on the path to acting:
"I had learned from your dad, my brother, how to do music and how to write formulas, compound syllables, whatnot, and tested it out in the beginning. From there, I started looking around for beats and whatnot and got comfortable enough with my voice and writing skills that I started recording and getting a feel for songs, how I would deliver them and how that would formulate to where people would enjoy it.”
Trending
Eminem and Nathan's mother, Debbie, succumbed to complications stemming from lung cancer.
Reply
