Eminem said he felt ‘conflicted’ about casting someone to play Jessica Simpson in a music video, which seemed to make fun of her appearance.

Simpson recently updated fans on how she was doing six years on from deciding to go sober, with the actor looking unrecognisable.

Eminem cast Trisha Paytas in a music video to play ‘Jessica Simpson’. Credit: YouTube/Eminem

 

The actor revealed that she’d hit ‘rock bottom’ back in 2017 when she was so drunk she couldn’t dress her kids, and the next day vowed never to let her children see her in a similar state again.

It’s been a long journey for her and she’s spoken about how she can now ‘never look back with regret’ after ditching alcohol.

The same might not be said for rapper Eminem after he featured a controversial portrayal of Simpson years ago, which he admitted he felt ‘conflicted about’.

 

Featured Image Credit: Eminem / YouTube Jim Spellman/WireImage

Just to get you up to speed, in 2009 Eminem released the album Relapse, which contained a song called ‘We Made You’.

It was the first track from the album to be released, and it stirred up some controversy when the music video for the song came out, with an unflattering portrayal of Simpson.

In the music video for ‘We Made You’, Trisha Paytas played the role of Jessica Simpson and appeared to be dressed in reference to her character in The Dukes of Hazzard.

 

The songs lyrics mention her by name, going ‘Jessica Simpson, sing the chorus’. 

During the video, Paytas danced and ate a cheeseburger, a reference to Simpson’s appearance at the time.

In the same year that the album was released, Eminem spoke to the Detroit Metro Times about the music video and his choice to have someone playing Simpson in it.

Eminem admitted he was ‘conflicted’ about having someone play Jessica Simpson in a music video for him. Credit: Jim Spellman/WireImage

The rapper said he had been ‘conflicted’ about a mocking portrayal of Simpson in the music video, but chose to do it in the end.

“I felt kinda conflicted doing the Jessica thing,” Eminem said in 2009 of the video to ‘We Made You’.

“Because we were gonna have a Jessica in the video. When I say, ‘Jessica Simpson, sing the chorus,’ we were gonna have a chick who looked like Jessica Simpson come out and sing the chorus.

“But then Jessica got fat … And we wanted to stay within the current of what’s going on right now in pop culture.”

Eminem was defended over his decision by Paytas, who said getting the gig helped kick off her career, while she remembered he was very encouraging to her.