Slim Shady on His Longtime Obsession With Christopher Reeve: 'I'm Trying to Pay Homage'

The late actor gets more than a few mentions on Em's latest album, 'The Death of Slim Shady.'

July 31, 2024

Slim Shady claims his frequent mentions of Christopher Reeve in his lyrics are intended as an "homage" to the late actor.

At least, that’s what Slim said in his surreal AI-created recent one-on-one with Eminem for Complex, as seen in full up top. At one point, Em confronted his ruthlessly combative alter ego about his "fucking weird obsession" with Reeve, prompting a defense from Slim that ultimately led to a realization.

"Christopher Reeves was Superman!" Slim said in response, notably mispronouncing the actor’s last name. "What are you talking about? I’m trying to pay homage. It’s funny, 'cause he was fucking Superman and he fell off a horse."

Facing off against Slim in the Complex interview, Em asked his alter ego how he could find humor in Reeve’s predicament, especially given how many years have passed since both the life-altering injury and the actor’s death.

"How is that funny, bro? It’s not funny," Em responds. "The guy fucking fell off a horse, yeah, he’s dead. He’s been dead for 20 fucking years man, leave him alone. Whatever. You know it’s not Reeves, right? There’s no S. It’s just Reeve."

Slim fires back: "Then why is there an S on his chest?"

Em replies: "I don’t know, fucking pronouns, bro. I don't know."

On The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce), which debuted at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart, Reeve gets multiple mentions, including on the goofily instructional "Brand New Dance" and the sequel to his Slim Shady LP single "Guilty Conscience." Fans will note that Reeve, who in 1995 was paralyzed from the neck down after being thrown from a horse, has long been the recipient of a portion of Slim’s well-documented lyrical ire. The Superman and Remains of the Day actor died in 2004 at the age of 52. On "Guilty Conscience 2," it’s claimed that a version of "Brand New Dance" was originally intended for Em’s 2004 album Encore.

Christopher Reeve is far from the only name to get a direct mention from Slim and/or Em on the new Death album. Caitlyn Jenner, Diddy, Ye, and (many) more were also given lyrical space on the Grammy and Oscar winner's latest.

See more up top. For the full Complex cover story, written by Noah Callahan-Bever, this is where you should go and head here to shop the Death of Slim Shady capsule now.