With vintage court photos of Eminem making the rounds again, now is a good time to revisit what really went down back then. For those new to rap history, it was a back-to-back weekend of drama involving two fights and one very unloaded gun.
Let us rewind to June 2000, just weeks after “The Marshall Mathers LP” dropped, when Eminem got arrested twice in 24 hours for two completely different incidents involving an unloaded gun, a lot of yelling, and maybe a little too much emotion.
Incident One: The Hot Rocks Situation
It all started outside Hot Rocks Café in Warren, Michigan. Em was reportedly there when he saw his wife, Kim Scott, kissing another man in the parking lot. Not exactly what you want to walk in on.
According to reports, Em pulled out an unloaded gun and hit the guy with it. He was quickly arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon and carrying a concealed weapon. It was a messy situation — and the media was all over it.
Incident Two: Round Two in Royal Oak
You would think one arrest in a weekend would be enough, but nope. The very next day, Eminem got into another altercation — this time in Royal Oak, allegedly with people from Insane Clown Posse’s crew. Again, he was accused of pulling out an unloaded gun during the argument.
This one earned him a charge of brandishing a firearm in public. No pistol whipping this time, but still not the display of calm.
What Happened Next?
Em faced five years in prison but eventually pleaded no contest to the concealed weapon charge from the first incident. The assault charge was dropped. Marshall got two years of probation, some fines, and community service.
He also took a plea deal for the second incident, adding more probation but skipping jail time.
He Talked About It in His Music (Of Course)
Eminem did not shy away from the whole situation. He even referenced it on “The Eminem Show” in the “Kiss (Skit),” where a dramatized version of the scene plays out.
Later, in a 2002 interview, he admitted: “I was going through a lot. The fame, my relationship, my anger — it all boiled over”.
The double arrest weekend was a headline-grabber but also a turning point. Em toned things down in public after that and kept his legal record clean. Still, those starking courtroom pics from Em’s arrest hearing and sentencing serve as a reminder: early 2000s Slim Shady really was as intense as the music made him sound.
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