Eminem’s half-brother, Nathan “Nate” Kane Mathers, has spoken out in the wake of their mother Debbie Nelson’s death.
Nelson died on December 2 in St Joseph, Missouri, three months after reports confirmed she was “terminally ill” from lung cancer. She was 69.
Nate, 38, took to his Instagram Story yesterday (December 3) to share a candid update on how he’s dealing with the loss.
“Hatred and mixed emotions today,” he wrote against a black background.
Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers III, has yet to comment on his mother’s death.
Nate has followed in his brother’s footsteps, releasing music under the stage name “Nate Kane.” He’s also starred in a number of Eminem’s music videos including the 2002 hit “Without Me” and the 2003 single “Sing for the Moment.
The music producer tied the knot with Ashley Mae Mathers in 2018. Together, they’ve welcomed one daughter and two sons — Audrianna, Liam, and Carter.
Eminem and Nate don’t share the same dad. The rapper’s father, Marshall Mathers Jr., left him and Nelson when he was just a baby. Years later, when Eminem was 13 years old, his mother welcomed Nate with her boyfriend Fred Samra.
Nelson has had a tumultuous relationship with her two sons since they were young boys. Nate was placed in foster care when he was eight. However, Nate and Eminem remained close over the years with the music icon gaining full custody of his younger brother after turning 23.
In a 2004 interview with Rolling Stone, the “Lose Yourself” vocalist recalled planning to get custody of Nate after he was first placed in foster care.
“When he was taken away I always said if I ever get in a position to take him, I would take him,” he said. “I tried to apply for full custody when I was 20, but I didn’t have the means.”
Now, looking back, Nate believes it was a blessing his brother was able to get custody of him.
“He was the best role model I could have had to help me be the dad that I am today,” Nate said on the Just a Little Shady podcast in February 2023.
Nelson dished on her relationship with Eminem in her 2008 tell-all memoir titled My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem: Setting the Record Straight on My Life as Eminem’s Mother.
In the book, Nelson claimed her eldest son’s comments about her in several of his lyrics have been exaggerated, and because of this, she sued him for defamation in 2000 in hopes she’d win the money to prevent the foreclosure of her house.
She asked for $10 million in damages, although in 2001 the case was settled for just $25,000, with the judge ordering that $23,354 go to her former attorney’s legal fees, leaving Nelson with a mere $1,646.
