Eminem Under Fire for ‘Sick and Tasteless’ Track on New Album Featuring Controversial Lyric

He is the king of controversy after all…

Let’s be honest, it’s not an Eminem album unless it’s met with a significant amount backlash; after all, it’s through controversy and shock rap that the 51-year-old originally made a name for himself.

And from the get-go, it was obvious that his newest album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) would be no different.

However, one song in particular has been blasted by listeners for its ‘tasteless’ reference to a real-life shooting in 2021.

On the track ‘Fuel’, the rapper – real name Marshall Mathers – makes a reference to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, after she was shot by a bullet in a prop gun on set of the film Rust nearly three years ago.

He raps: “But it’s in a holster, I proceed to bust it/ F**k around and get popped like Halyna Hutchins

“Like I’m Alec Baldwin, what I mean is buckin’ you down, coup de grâce then.”

Actor Alec Baldwin had recently been standing trial in New Mexico – charged with involuntary manslaughter over Hutchins’ death – however, the case has since been dismissed by a judge.

Baldwin had claimed he had not pulled the trigger on the gun, which caused Hutchins’ death and that others on set were responsible for performing safety checks on the weapon.

Eminem’s brazen reference to the shooting left listeners shocked, with many taking to social media to share their distaste at the lyric.

“Eminem dissing Halyna Hutchins and Alec Baldwin was not on my 2024 Bingo card,” one shocked fan wrote on X, while others branded the lyric ‘disgusting’, ‘disrespectful’ and ‘tasteless’.

“Love him, but that’s extremely disrespectful to her family,” a third person penned.

The Alec Baldwin and Halyna Hutchins reference wasn’t the only lyric on The Death of Slim Shady which caused backlash either, with the rapper’s lead single ‘Houdini’ being slammed for mentioning fellow rapper Megan Thee Stallion’s shooting.

“If I was to ask for Megan Thee Stallion if she would collab with me / Would I really have a shot at a feat?” he sings on the track, seemingly making light of the fact that Stallion was shot in the foot by Tory Lanez back in 2020.

Eminem is no stranger to controversy. (Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

Several other celebrities were also left feeling the heat from the rapper’s forked tongue on the album, which sees Eminem unceremoniously kill off his infamous alter-ego Slim Shady.

The rapper took aim at Aquaman star Amber Heard in the track ‘Lucifer’ by referencing her 2022 defamation trial against Johnny Depp, while also delivering a brutal diss to fellow rapper Diddy on the song ‘Antichrist’.