On December 20, Just Jared reported that Eminem decided to apologize to Rihanna. A year ago, a song by the rapper was leaked online, in which he supported Chris Brown’s abuse of his ex-girlfriend.
“Honestly, I want to apologize to you, Rihanna. Sorry for that leaked song. I didn’t mean to upset you. I was wrong,” Eminem rapped in the song Zeus.
Zeus is a rap song on Eminem’s new album Music to Be Murdered By – Side B. In the end, he admitted his mistake and apologized to his colleagues.
In 2019, Eminem’s unreleased song was leaked online. In the song, there was a rap line referring to the Diamonds singer’s abuse: “Of course I’m with Chris Brown. If it were me, I’d beat that bitch up like that too.”
Eminem’s rap was quickly criticized by the international media and audience. Fans firmly believed that the lyrics were aimed at Rihanna when the singer was brutally assaulted by Chris Brown in February 2009, right before the Grammy Awards.
The photo of Rihanna with a bruised face was published by TMZ, causing a stir in the media. The abuse became a topic that was exploited by the press for a long time. After that, the black rapper was sentenced to 5 years of probation by the court and had to stay away from Rihanna within 10 meters.
Therefore, Eminem’s rap lyrics were meant to defend Chris Brown, calling Rihanna with vulgar words, which offended the audience.
The audience was even more shocked because the two had successfully collaborated and appeared close in the past. In 2010, the hit Love the Way You Lie took the music charts by storm and marked the successful collaboration between Eminem and Riri.