Eminem has released a new song, Houdini, in which he mentions Megan Thee Stallion’s shooting, but some fans criticised the 51-year-old rapper for bringing the 29-year-old artist up

Eminem has been criticised after making a “cruel” dig at Megan Thee Stallion in his latest song Houdini.

Back in 2020, Megan claimed that Tory Lanez shot her in the feet and since then, she has been subject to scrutiny and trolling both online and offline. Many of Lanez’s peers accused the 29-year-old rapper of lying and rappers including Drake mocked her in their songs.

But in 2022, Lanez was found guilty of shooting the artist and is now in prison. Eminem, 51, is now the latest star to come at Megan with his latest track as he mentions the shooting directly, rapping: “If I was to ask for Megan Thee Stallion if she would collab with me / Would I really have a shot at a feat / I don’t know, but I’m glad to be, back.”

Eminem is known for targeting other celebrities in his songs and while some fans did not take the line seriously, others thought he had crossed the line in bringing up the incident. One person tweeted: “it is so f—ing cruel how men constantly make fun of meg’s abuse. like you’re eminem why tf do you care about megan thee stallion????”

Another wrote on X: “Imagine bringing up someone’s trauma AND it’s not even a bar.” One more added: “Yea this was disgusting especially coming from a grown man. Just unnecessary.” An X user described Eminem as “out of touch”, saying: “Eminem’s career has largely been built on being shocking and provocative to certain audiences … Being 51 years old and taking shots at Megan Thee Stallion? Out of touch.”

Eminem has also taken aim at his own children – Hailie Jade Scott, 28, Alaina Scott, 31, and Stevie Laine Scott, 22 – in the song, branding them “brats”. In the verse, he says: “— my own kids, they’re brats / They can screw off, them and you all.” But his brood, who he shares with ex Kim Scott, seem to be fine with his jibe as they all appear in the  video for the track.

Hailie, Alaina, and Stevie appear on a  video call as they react dramatically with disgust to his lyrics. Eminem’s next album The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) is out in the summer – and fans are concerned it might be his last.

Fans predicted there would be new music from the icon on Friday, after the rapper shared a clip to Instagram that showed a text chat. The date stamp for the chat was Friday May 31, 12.00am, and in them, he ominously wrote: “…and for my last trick!” – it was sent to “all contacts”.

Eminem’s release of Houdini comes nearly three months after Lanez filed an appeal after being found guilty of shooting Megan in her feet. Prior to his appeal, Lanez was charged and sentenced to 10 years in prison. In August 2023, Lanez asked Judge David Herriford for leniency and said he still cares for Megan “dearly to his day” and is his “friend”.

Megan did not attend the hearing but a written statement was read on her behalf. The message read: “He not only shot me, he made a mockery of my trauma. He tried to position himself as a victim and set out to destroy my character and my soul. He lied to anyone that would listen and paid bloggers to disseminate false information about the case on social media.”

The statement continued: “He released music videos and songs to damage my character and continue his crusade. At first, he tried to deny the shooting never happened. Then, he attempted to place the blame on my former best friend. In his tantrum of lies, he’s blamed the system, blamed the press and, as of late, he’s using his childhood trauma to shield himself and avoid culpability.”