Eminem’s Brother Nathan Mathers Feeling ‘Hatred and Mixed Emotions’ After Death of Mother Debbie Nelson

Nate took to social media Tuesday, the day after news of his mother’s death was announced, to share an Instagram Story post that simply read: “Hatred and mixed emotions today.”

Nelson died Monday in St. Joseph, Missouri at the age of 69 from complications related to lung cancer, per TMZ, who was first to report the news of Nelson’s death. She was first reported ill back in September

Nelson welcomed Nate, her youngest son with her boyfriend Fred Samra, when Eminem — real name is Marshall Mathers III — was 13 years old. She was previously married to Eminem’s father, Marshall Mathers Jr., with the pair tying the knot when Nelson herself was just 16. The rapper was born two years later in 1972.

Eminem’s father later abandoned him and his mom when he was a baby, with the “The Real Slim Shady” musician remaining estranged from his father up until his death at 67 in 2019.

After ups and downs at home with Nelson, Eminem was declared his brother’s legal guardian when Nate was 16, after he was in foster care for nearly 10 years.

Eminem opened up about stepping in to care for his brother during an interview with Rolling Stone in 2004, telling the outlet, “I cried just going to see him at the foster home. The day he was taken away, I was the only one allowed to see him. They had come and got him out of school. He didn’t know what the f–k was going on. The same thing that had happened in my life was happening in his.”

“When he was taken away I always said if I ever get in a position to take him, I would take him. I tried to apply for full custody when I was 20, but I didn’t have the means,” he said.

While it appears Nathan had a tumultuous relationship with Nelson over the years, so did Eminem, who famously wrote about their mother in some of his earlier songs, including the 2002 track “Cleanin’ Out My Closet.” The track led to Nelson suing her son for $11 million for defamation.

Despite it all, Nate, who is now married with three children, has credited his older brother as being “the best role model I could have had,” telling Eminem’s daughter, Hailie Jade, during an appearance on her Just a Little Shady podcast in February 2023, “He was the best role model I could have had to help me be the dad that I am today.”