An alleged eighth-grade bully that Eminem called out by name on his debut album has filed a $1 million lawsuit against the rapper in Macomb County Circuit Court, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press.
DeAngelo Bailey, a sanitation worker in Roseville, Mich., claims that Eminem’s verbal attack on “Brain Damage” off his 1999 debut, The Slim Shady LP, has damaged his reputation and made his attempts to move into a new career as an MC difficult.
“In his music lyrics, Eminem falsely portrayed himself as the victim of a pattern of outrageous and grotesque physical abuse from his childhood friend Bailey,” the lawsuit states. “Eminem publicized lyrics that were intended to damage Bailey in order to improve Eminem’s reputation as a rap artist.”
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The lyrics in question are as follows: “I was harassed daily by this fat kid named DeAngelo Bailey/ An eighth-grader who acted obnoxious, cause his father boxes/ So every day he’d shove me into the lockers/ And he had me in the position to beat me into submission/ He banged my head against the urinal until he broke my nose/ Soaked my clothes in blood, grabbed me and choked my throat.”
Bailey’s attorney, Nicholas Hanzes, said the accusations made in the lyrics are false.
“He completely denies that he harassed Eminem daily, shoved him into lockers, and engaged in a violent fight described in the song,” Hantzes told the Free Press.
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No reason was given as to why it took Bailey so long to file charges, but Eminem’s lawyer, Peter Peacock, thinks that Bailey is just the latest name from the past trying to cash in.
“From all I can tell, this is a case of ‘I’ll file a lawsuit and see if I can get some money,'” Peacock said in an interview with the Free Press.
So, how long until someone named Ken Kaniff comes out of the woodwork?
