Eminem Said He Went ‘Too Far’ By Using A Gay Slur He’s Used 9,000 Fucking Times

After copping criticism for using a gay slur to describe Tyler, The Creator on his recently released album Kamikaze, Eminem — who has used the same slur time and time again throughout his career — has expressed regret.

In ‘Fall’, Eminem takes aim at several rappers, including Tyler. In one line, he raps “Tyler create nothin’, I see why you called yourself a f****t, bitch.” The word is censored, but given that Tyler’s LGBTIQ identity was centred on his last album Flower Boy, the intent is clear.

Shortly after release, Bon Iver, who features on the track, distanced himself from the song, saying he asked Eminem and producers to remove the slur. “It is certainly not the time for slurs,” he tweeted. “Wish they would have listened when we asked them to change it.”

Now, in an interview with Sway, Eminem says he ‘went too far’ with the slur, and has realised he should have listened to his own doubt over including the word.

“I think the word that I called him on that song was one of the things where I felt like this might be too far,” he said. “Because in my quest to hurt him, I realise that I was hurting a lot of other people by saying it… It was one of the things that I kept going back to and going ‘I don’t feel right with this.’”

Considering the word is bleeped in the song, it’s likely that was his compromise. Eminem’s comments regarding ‘Fall’ are his most apologetic in his long-standing affection for the slur, one which he has been called out upon across his career.

On his 2000 album The Marshall Mathers LP, you can hear it across several songs, including ‘Criminal’ where he says he “hates fags”, and ‘Marshall Mathers’, where he says he’ll “knock you fuckin’ f****** the fuck out”.

You can’t say the N word UNLESS you’re black. You can’t use faggot UNLESS you’re gay. Minority groups are allowed to reclaim words that have been used to oppress them!!! Tyler can say faggot because he’s gay. Eminem is not.

— 𝓂𝒾𝓀𝒾 𝒷𝒶𝒷𝓎 ♡ (@ziggyblue_) August 31, 2018

Then again, on 2009 track ‘Underground’, he used the slur repeatedly and rapped he’d “throw a fuckin’ lesbian in wet cement”, which would burn their flesh. But it was in 2013 where Eminem was widely called out by media and fans alike for using the slur repeatedly on The Marshall Mathers II LP.

Specifically, it was a line on single ‘Rap God’ that caught criticism. In it, Eminem rapped that he’d “break a motherfuckin’ table/over the back of a couple of faggots and crack it in half”. In a 2013 Rolling Stone feature, Eminem defended his use of the word at the time, saying it referred to “assholes” rather than gay men, pointing towards his vocal support of LGBTIQ issues, such as same-sex marriage.

Comparing the two comments, it’s clear Eminem has a better grasp on how the slur lands. Who knows? Maybe on the next album, he won’t use it.