Joseph Strange Pleads Guilty to Leaking Eminem’s Music

Joseph Strange, a 48-year-old Holly, Michigan resident and former employee of Eminem, is expected to plead guilty to criminal copyright infringement for leaking Slim Shady’s unreleased music.

According to federal court records, Strange is accused of leaking at least 10 copies of at least one unreleased track between July 2024 and January 2025. In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to drop a more serious charge of interstate transportation of stolen goods, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison. The copyright infringement charge carries up to five years.

Prosecutors previously alleged that Strange stole computer hard drives from Eminem’s Ferndale studio containing unreleased music and sold the material online. Investigators reportedly identified several people who purchased the music from Strange. One buyer from Ontario told investigators he sent Strange approximately $50,000 worth of Bitcoin over a six-month period.

Federal agents searched Strange’s Holly home on January 28, 2025, and allegedly recovered the hard drives containing copies of Eminem’s unreleased music, along with handwritten notes and lyric sheets created by Marshall Mathers.

Strange worked for Eminem from 2007 until 2021. His attorney, Wade Fink, said the defense has been negotiating a resolution but maintained that “the truth” is very different from the allegations. Eminem’s longtime spokesman Dennis Dennehy, meanwhile, said Strange was trusted to protect the rapper’s artistic work and called the alleged conduct deeply damaging.

Strange is scheduled to formally plead guilty before U.S. District Judge Brandy McMillion on October 22.

Eminem