Nick Cannon reflected on his longtime feud with Eminem in a new interview. The conflict between Cannon and the Slim Shady rapper originated in 2009 when the rapper dissed Cannon’s ex-wife Mariah Carey and took aim at Cannon on “Bagpipes From Baghdad.”
“He disrespected my woman, man,” Cannon recounted during an appearance on On Par With Maury Povich. “You can’t come at my wife and don’t expect to get this work. I think he and Mariah had a professional relationship, which he professed to be a personal relationship.”
Cannon continued, “So that was way before me. So then by the time we got married, he had some harsh words because I guess he was still in his feelings. I couldn’t stand for that at the time. At the dignity of my woman, I had to fight for my relationship, my love.”
Cannon and Carey were married in 2008, although the beef between Carey and Eminem kicked off in the early ’00s. Eminem claimed that he was involved in a romantic relationship with the singer for a few months, which she has denied. He subsequently referenced her on several songs, including “When the Music Stops” and “Superman.” In 2002, Carey seemingly referenced the situation on her song “Clown,” singing, “You should’ve never intimated we were lovers/ When you know very well we never even touched each other.”
In 2006, Eminem reignited the feud on “Jimmy Crack Corn,” which included the lyrics “Your mind’s on us like mine’s on Mariah/ And y’all are just like her, you’re all fucking liars.” He then called out her and Cannon on “Bagpipes From Baghdad.” At the time, Cannon replied to the song in a since-deleted blog post, writing, “I thought we got past the days where white men could spew vulgar obscenities at our beautiful queens and get away with it.”
Cannon released a series of diss tracks taking aim at Eminem in December 2019, after he and Carey had divorced. These included “The Invitation,” “Pray for Him,” and “Canceled: Invitation.” The following year, he explained his intention in an interview with Billboard.
“I was defending myself once again,” Cannon said. “He keeps bringing it up for decades. I’m one of those cats that matches energy. I don’t do it — I overdo it. Even in high school, I was a little guy, but if you made fun of me, I was gonna make fun of you, your momma, and that’s the same energy of Wild ‘N Out. It was a month of social commentary, but if you’ve ever heard me speak on this matter, I always give that dude his props as an icon in hip-hop. I think he knows better now. If he keeps talking about me, I’m gonna keep talking back.”
Last year, Carey was asked about the feud during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live. Host Andy Cohen enlisted the pop diva for a game of “Plead The Fifth!,” where she could opt to remain silent on one of the three questions he asked her. “This summer, a music producer claimed the real reason why you and Eminem started beefing was because he approached you about playing his mom in 8 Mile,” Cohen inquired. “Is there any truth to that?”
“From what I heard there is truth to that,” Carey replied. “But I don’t think that he actually—well, who knows who approached who.” Cohen responded, “But did that ignite the beef?”
“Um, no,” Carey replied. “I mean, maybe. It depends what he’s thinking. I really don’t care. Like, whatever he’s said, then I’m that, fine. Not really. But that’s a rap lyric.”