Nick Cannon recently reflected on his long-running feud with Eminem, tracing the conflict back to 2009. The tension began when the rapper took aim at Cannon’s then-wife, Mariah Carey, on the track “Bagpipes From Baghdad,” while also directing insults at Cannon himself.
“He disrespected my woman, man,” Cannon said during an appearance on On Par With Maury Povich. “You can’t come at my wife and not expect a response. Eminem and Mariah had a professional relationship that he portrayed as something personal.”
Cannon explained that the friction predated his relationship with Carey. “That was long before me,” he said. “By the time we married, he was still holding onto those feelings. I couldn’t accept that. For the sake of my woman, my relationship, and my love, I had to stand my ground.”
Cannon and Carey married in 2008, though their feud with Eminem dates back to the early 2000s. Eminem has claimed a brief romantic involvement with Carey, a claim she has denied. He referenced her in songs including “When the Music Stops” and “Superman.” In 2002, Carey seemingly addressed the situation on her track “Clown,” singing, “You should’ve never intimated we were lovers / When you know very well we never even touched each other.”
The conflict flared again in 2006 on “Jimmy Crack Corn,” which featured the lines “Your mind’s on us like mine’s on Mariah / And y’all are just like her, you’re all fucking liars.” Eminem then called out both Carey and Cannon on “Bagpipes From Baghdad.” Cannon responded at the time with a since-deleted blog post, writing, “I thought we got past the days where white men could spew vulgar obscenities at our beautiful queens and get away with it.”
Following his divorce from Carey, Cannon released several diss tracks aimed at Eminem in December 2019, including “The Invitation,” “Pray for Him,” and “Canceled: Invitation.” The following year, he discussed his intentions in an interview with Billboard.
“I was defending myself once again,” Cannon said. “He keeps bringing it up for decades. I match energy — I don’t just do it, I overdo it. Even in high school, if someone made fun of me, I was going to make fun of them and their family. That’s the same energy behind Wild ‘N Out. It was a month of social commentary, but whenever I speak on this, I always give him his props as a hip-hop icon. I think he knows better now. If he keeps talking about me, I’m going to keep talking back.”
Last year, Carey was asked about the feud during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live. Host Andy Cohen enlisted the singer for a round of “Plead The Fifth,” asking whether a producer’s claim—that the beef started because he approached her about playing his mother in 8 Mile—held any truth.
“From what I heard, there is truth to that,” Carey replied. “But I don’t think he actually—well, who knows who approached whom.” Cohen followed up, “Did that ignite the beef?”
“No,” Carey said. “Maybe. It depends on what he’s thinking. Honestly, I don’t care. Whatever he’s said, I’m that, fine. Not really. But that’s just a rap lyric.”