Eminem has garnered much controversy for his brash and occasionally violent lyrics. But those who know him say that he is a very nice guy.
One pleasant account comes from beloved film director John Waters, who made an appearance on Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers’ Las Culturistas podcast on Wednesday, May 13.
In the interview, Waters insisted that despite the fact that Eminem had used pejoratives against the LGBTQ+ community in his previous works, Eminem is very much a supportive ally to the community. Waters then shared a story from Elton John’s wedding.
“He gave Elton John and David [Furnish] for the wedding matching gold cock rings,” said Waters. “He's not homophobic.”
Eminem is a longtime friend of John. The two performed “Stan” at the 2001 Grammy Awards, however, the performance was protested by GLAAD hours before the ceremony, given Eminem’s past usage of homophobic slurs. The two performed as scheduled, to much acclaim, and have remained close since. Eminem is also the proud father of a non-binary child, Stevie.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Waters revealed that he has not met Eminem in person. He did, however, say that Eminem is one person he hasn’t met whom he really wants to meet. He explained that this is because he has a special connection to a deep cut from his 2004 album Encore.
“I used to go to this redneck bar in Baltimore, where it was all white guys dressed like black rappers hung out,” said Waters. “And every time I walk in, they'd play ‘Puke’ by Eminem as a tribute to me.”
Waters currently voices Armando, a Persian cat, on Prime Video’s new animated series Kevin. The series centers around the titular character – a Tuxedo cat voiced by Jason Schwartzman — who is adjusting to life after his human owners separate.
