Last week, Kim Scott, Eminem’s ex-wife, was once again arrested for DUI. TMZ obtained the police bodycam footage, which is now available to the public.
Dangerous Driving
The shopping trip with children in her car was cut short when she collided with a car parked in the street. To her credit, instead of continuing to drive, Kim turned back home (which still meant that she had fled the scene). After she drove her Range Rover into the closed garage door, a neighbour called the police, who arrested Kim and charged her with two misdemeanours.
Kim’s lawyer said at the time that he did not know anything about the charges, but that Kim fully cooperated with the police.
Now, these three short videos give a better picture of the events. In the first video, Kim is being breathalised. While the camera did not catch the readings, the fact that officers swiftly moved to arrest and handcuff Kim, we can safely assume that she was way above the legal limit. The result of the breath test was not difficult to guess, though, as Kim appeared to be barely responsive. But she was conscious enough to comply with the police instructions. Her only request was to inform the family.
Her Spin
The second video shows Kim explaining what happened. Her version of events included a mysterious blue car that went into her lane, forcing Kim to hit a parked truck, and later followed Kim’s Rover, scaring the children. That story would have sounded more convincing if Kim could talk without slurring her words. Also, she switched from stating that she hadn’t had any drinks or drugs to saying that she had an alcoholic drink 2-3 hours before. She also did not remember hitting her garage door when parking. Later, a plastic bottle of cola mixed with alcohol was found right in her car.
Public Interest
In case you are wondering, it is absolutely legal in the US to make this kind of footage public. In most US states, police body camera footage is considered public record and can be legally obtained by media outlets. The responsible agency only has to determine if the public interest outweighs privacy concerns. Specifically, if the incident involves an arrest, a public disturbance, or police use of force, its importance to the public increases in the eyes of the law. This type of stories is TMZ’s bread and butter, so they know the procedure very well. It is enough to file a freedom of information request to get records released. The First Amendment then protects the right to publish them.
Theoretically, people involved might try to block the release on the grounds of “unwarranted invasion of privacy”, but ironically, it is more difficult for celebrities than for laymen. To contest the release, the person of interest must prove that the privacy harm outweighs the importance of disclosure to the public. And in Michigan, it is assumed that celebrities cannot have the same expectations of privacy, simply because public interest in them is, by definition, increased. So, even if Eminem wanted to interfere and keep the story away from the public eye, most likely, he wouldn’t have succeeded.
Of course, we can still debate whether it is ethical to publish such sensitive information, but the legality of it is waterproof. And the public interest is certainly high.
