Documents confirm the Secret Service interviewed Eminem to investigate “threatening lyrics” about President Trump used in 2017.
During the BET Hip Hop Awards in 2017, Eminem dove into a freestyle rap blasting the president and calling him a “kamikaze that will probably cause a nuclear holocaust.” Later in 2017, he released the song Revival, which included lyrics that described Ivanka Trump being murdered in the back of his car.
In Eminem’s 2018 Kamikaze album, he included the lyrics, “Agent Orange just sent the Secret Service/To meet in person to see if I really think of hurtin’ him/Or ask if I’m linked to terrorists/I said, ‘Only when it comes to ink and lyricists.’”
At the time, Secret Service refused to confirm the lyrics or acknowledge whether it had questioned the rapper.
New documents obtained by Buzzfeed show the agency had a 40-page file on Eminem, which included information about an interview they conducted to investigate his lyrics.
The Secret Service noted that Eminem, whose legal name is Marshall Mathers, was “exhibiting inappropriate behavior” and “threatens protectee,” referring to the lyrics about Ivanka Trump in his song Revival.
The service claimed it was alerted to the lyrics by a “concerned citizen,” who turned out to be a TMZ reporter looking for a comment on the rapper’s “threatening lyrics about First daughter Ivanka Trump.”
The Secret Service also highlighted the BET performance, noting, “This is not the first time MATHERS made threatening comments towards POTUS and his family. In June 2017, MATHERS freestyled comments that were threatening in nature towards POTUS.”
After concluding the investigation into Eminem, the Secret Service declined to refer the rapper’s actions to further investigation or prosecution.
