Tough-guy rapper Eminem was bullied so badly as a child his mother sued the Detroit school system for failing to protect him.
The torment of the then 9-year-old Marshall Mathers began on Oct. 15, 1981, when he was beset by a bully at the Dort Elementary School who split his lip and knocked the wind out of him, according to court papers unveiled this week by the Smoking Gun website.
The bully, who caused Eminem to suffer from “nightmares and anti-social behavior,” was identified in the papers as DeAngelo Bailey.
More beatings at the hands of Bailey followed, including one in a restroom that left Marshall with injuries to his head, face, back and legs, the papers state.
On a snowy day in January 1982, Bailey nailed the future superstar in the face with a “snowball containing a heavy object or a piece of ice” while they were playing “King of the Hill” before beating him up, the papers state.
As a result of that attack, Eminem’s mother, Debbie, claimed her son suffered a concussion and a temporary loss of vision in one eye.
Debbie Mathers Briggs’ lawsuit for $10,000 in damage was eventually dismissed on the grounds of “governmental immunity,” the Smoking Gun reported.
But Eminem got his revenge against Bailey in 1999, when he outed him as a bully in a rap song called “Brain Damage.”
Some of the lyrics went:
“He banged my head against the urinal till he broke my nose/ Soaked my clothes in blood, grabbed me and choked my throat.”
Russell Brand said he and Katy Perry will not sign a prenup before their wedding this month.
The couple will tie the knot Saturday in India, where the couple became engaged during a vacation last winter.
During a recent New York Times event, the actor said he doesn’t want anything to spoil the big day, including a legal contract that will protect his assets in the event of a divorce.
“It ain’t about selling the pictures, it ain’t about doing no prenup,” said Brand, according to StarPulse.com. “It’s like a normal thing.”
Following hit films such as “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Get Him to the Greek,” Brand recently published his second memoir, “My Booky Wook 2: This Time It’s Personal.” Perry has also become successful in her own right, thanks to multiple hit songs and her recently released second album “Teenage Dream.”
Despite reports that the couple’s wedding guests will be flown into India via private jet, Brand, 35, said his nuptials to Perry, 26, will be a simple celebration amongst loved ones.
“I’m trying to preserve and make it a beautiful thing,” Brand said at the New York Times event. “I want to make our wedding just about me and her loving each other. We want to get married in front of our friends and family and keep it normal.”
Rapper T.I. says he’s learned his final lesson after a federal judge ordered him back to prison for 11 months.
A federal judge in Atlanta ruled last week that the Grammy-winning rap artist, whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., must return to prison for violating the terms of his supervised release on federal weapons charges. He was arrested in California last month on suspicion of drug possession.
T.I. told radio station V103-FM in Atlanta on Monday that he’s learned by trial and error after each arrest and has learned his final lesson.
T.I. gave the interview to V103 alongside a 24-year-old man who had recently threatened to kill himself by leaping from a downtown building. Police said the man agreed to come down if he could meet with T.I.
T.I. remains free on bail as he appeals the ruling.
Johnny Depp took matters into his own hands during bitterly cold filming in the UK.
He’s been filming “Pirates of the Caribbean 4” at Pinewood Studios in London, and the weather has been colder than usual.
After noticing a lot of teeth chattering and shivering among his co-workers, Johnny ordered warm and waterproof hiking jackets for everyone on the production.
According to The Sun, at $100 apiece, the bill came out to nearly $50,000 for the large cast and crew of 500.
— The Associated Press also contributed to this report
lsmith@denverpost.com
