Eminem’s former bodyguard, Byron Big-Nazz Williams, who wrote a book about him called Shady Bizzness: Life as Marshall Mathers’ Bodyguard in an Industry of Paper Gangsters, once did an exclusive interview to promote his book and revealed some of the crazy facts he encountered while working with Slim Shady. According Byron Williams:
1. Eminem lives in constant fear of his wife Kim, who beats him up in drunken fights and banned woman from going backstage on his Europe tour.
2. He picks on gays and lesbians in his song lyrics because he sees them as easy targets.
3. Eminem was terrified of a 15-year-old fan he thought had begun to stalk him. Every time they turned around she was there. She was at every show standing outside trying to tell him how much she loved him. She knew our hotels and everywhere they were going. She even knew places they were going to be that no-one from outside was supposed to know. It really put Eminem on edge. He was convinced a deranged fan would one day kill him. He is worried about the guy who just steps out of the crowd and goes `bang’ and it’s all over.
4. He asked for FBI protection after receiving death threats.
5. Eminem cried because he missed his five-year-old daughter Hailie while being on tour.
6. He claims to have been involved in a drive-by shooting – but was armed only with a toy paint-gun.
7. Eminem uses drugs constantly to cope with the pressure of fame.
8. He hates to be alone and sleeps with the light on.
9. Eminem has a lot of money, but he is miserable. His wife does not make him happy, the music does not make him happy – only his daughter makes him happy.
10. He may have this tough image but basically he’s a very screwed up and insecure person.
11. Eminem was like a one-man walking pharmacy. One day he took 14 different drugs. It started with ecstasy for breakfast, then liquor, Vicodin, valium, magic mushrooms, marijuana, Tylenol 3, and a host of other over-the-counter drugs.
12. During Eminem’s UK tour at that time, he was the subject of a police investigation after apparently taking drugs and drinking on stage. It was later claimed the drugs were chewing gum and the drink was water. Em often took drugs before going on stage to give his act “an edge.”
13. Some of the things that went on while Byron Williams was on tour made made him think he was working for the Devil.
14. He would always take ecstasy half-an-hour before a show so it would really kick in when he was on stage.
15. Sometimes Em would drink so much you could smell the liquor coming from his pores.
16. He is made up of three personalities. There is Marshall Mather, who is the good father who wants to keep his family together; there is Eminem, the one who writes the songs; and then there is Slim Shady, the crazy one who gets into all the troubles.
17. Kim herself is no angel. She throw a lamp at Eminem on a tour bus, knocking him down. Eminem is terrified of her. She is one tough lady and bigger than him.
18. He knows if it gets too bad, she will walk away with Hailie, and he could never take that.
19. One day either she is going to kill him or he is going to kill her.
20. Kim is not on the tour with Eminem so she wanted to make sure he behaved himself. Women, including catering staff, are not allowed backstage and none have been anywhere near his changing room. No one could quite believe it at first but he has stuck by his wife’s wishes.”
21. Williams saw him cry for the first time in Boston when Em couldn’t deal with the pressure of the tour. According to him, it was a sad sight. They were pressuring him for more and more interviews and it drove him crazy. They were always asking the same questions. He cried and stormed out of the hotel. He missed Hailie, and Williams saw him as human because of that. He was real – and had real feelings – even though he was intoxicated all the time.
22. Williams says: “I was told he had been getting death threats because of his comments about gays, and he has asked the FBI for help. He treated these threats seriously and was genuinely scared.
23. Eminem made derogatory remarks about gays and lesbians because he thought it was funny. He called them fa—ts and stuff. It all started out as jokes to tease people. But it’s backfired.
24. He started picking on gays and lesbians because it was his opportunity to be the bully. He was so used to getting kicked a lot himself. He was beaten up a lot while growing up. In his eyes, he saw the gay community as vulnerable.
25. He disrespects people and he thinks it’s funny. He thinks they are going to find it funny as well, but they don’t.
