Shady's_Back wrote:Eminem did NOT know Elton John was gay when performing, there was an interview after the grammy show and it's also in one of his biographies.
alright listen, if Em didn't know Elton was gay when performing at the Grammys why would Em perform with Elton to show his middle finger to his critics and prove that he isn't homophobic?
With the enormous popularity of The Marshall Mathers LP, the controversy surrounding him grew even larger, especially when it was nominated for a Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Though Mathers had always claimed that his lyrics were not meant to be taken seriously, and that he had nothing against homosexuals or women, the gay rights group GLAAD organized a boycott of the Grammys. Mathers responded to this by rapping "Stan" on-stage with openly gay singer Elton John, ending the performance by hugging John. This gesture failed to appease many of his critics. He said he did not know Elton John was gay, but he told Kurt Loder after the awards show that he respected him: "Of course I'd heard of Elton John," Eminem said, "but I didn't know he was gay. I didn't know anything about his personal life. I didn't really care, but being that he was gay and he had my back, I think it made a statement in itself saying that he understood where I was coming from."
thanks for the quote, you're actually turning out to be a big help proving my point.
Em doesn't say in this interview "I didn't know Elton was gay when we did the show" - he's indicating he supposedly didn't know anything about Elton's personal business before Elton made the statements supporting him. The key here is this exact line:
but being that he was gay and he had my back,Now, if you read that line carefully in the context of the rest of Em's statement, it shows that Em allegedly didn't know Elton was gay
before Elton made the statements where he said he supported Em and those statements were made
before the Grammys - that's why Em wanted to perform with Elton, what better way to shut up your critics than to perform with a confessed homosexual?