Todd Nelson

Eminem's uncle died recently on October the 19th 2004. He committed suicide. R.I.P Todd Nelson.


Todd Nelson is Debbie’s younger brother and thus Marshall’s uncle.
In the early 80’s, Marshall spent a few years with his uncle in Warren, Michigan, in a little house. The two family home was purchased by Eminem’s great grandmother Bessi Viola Whitacker in 1950 and has been put on sale on eBay in 2002 by Todd. Appearently, his financial situation didn’t allow him to keep the house :
« This is a very emotional thing for me, because this house has been in our family for 50 years. I didn't want to sell it, but I had to because my finances won't allow me to live here any more. »

Todd Nelson has made the DVD “The Man Behind The Mask” that is all about Eminem. The DVD certainly contains interesting stuff and allows you to view places like Eminem’s primary school, the house where he used to stay with his uncle and other significant and interesting places in Detroit where Eminem used to rap.
About his nephew, Todd says:
"It never occurs to me that he's famous. I changed his diapers when he was a kid."
According to Todd, Eminem was very protective towards his mom. When he didn’t like her boyfriend, the man had just to carry his luggage and leave their home.Todd talks about Eminem’s will to become famous and about Kim’s suicide attempt.
Some of his statements are unbelievable. He claims to be the first who has taught Marshall how to rap, what we may, of course, doubt : Eminem’s maternal uncle has never released any rap tape nor done any work related to rap music. Eminem denied his allegations.
He describes Marshall as a sissy, who was afraid to go fishing with him, because “the water was too cold”.
Todd also states Marshall has turned to the worst since he started making bad songs. Those statements sound funny from the mouth of a man who spent 8 years in a Missouri state prison for killing his brother-in-law.
Eminem’s uncle has rather shown a real eagerness to sell his nephew’s privacy to the British tabloïds and to talk about his sexuality which is really none of his business, no matter if those facts are true or not. (*)
(*)http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_811455.html?menu
Eminem’s fame shouldn’t allow him to talk about such private matters.
No doubt that both men’s relationship is bad. Todd stands on Debbie’s side, pretending that she was “real good to the boy”.
About Marshall’s mom, Todd says:
"His mother looked after him so well. He grew up not having to take responsibility for anything because Debbie did it all for him."
But Debbie’s sick behavior is no longer hidden for the public’s eyes. He totally denies that Marshall has had a hard life and denies some facts related in 8 Mile.

Since Eminem became famous, many of his family members turned their back to him and focused their interest on his money. Todd also wants some publicity and tries to find a way to make easy money on Eminem’s back.
Eminem’s sentence summarizes it all: “My family has never been there for me. They expect things because we’re blood.”

Another suicide case in the Mathers family

picture of Betty Kresin at Todd's funeral

Another suicide case in the Mathers family leaves deep wounds into Marshall’s heart
I couldn’t believe my eyes as I discovered the news in the UK mirror yesterday. The Mirror certainly wanted to make a big sensation by showing a title like « Eminem’s « father » shoot himself in the head.
In fact, the article from the British tabloid wasn’t about Marshall Mathers II, but about Todd Nelson, Debbie Mathers’ brother and thus, Eminem’s uncle.
In fact, the Mirror’s article intented to point out Todd Nelson’s role as a replacement father for Marshall, which is totally wrong. Although Marshall has spent several years with uncle Todd at his house in Timken during his teenage years, Marshall wasn’t that close to his maternal uncle.
It is a matter of fact Todd Nelson has obviously tried to get some money out of his nephew’s fame and that he sticked up for his sister Debbie against Marshall, most of the time.
Some people may not understand why Marshall might be devasted by uncle Todd’s death, then. The reasons are quite obvious, though:
- the loss of a family member is always difficult to cope with, no matter if you were close to him or not, and I am talking by experience.
-Eminem had the great pain to lose his uncle Ronnie in 1991. Todd’s suicide will bring up a lot of memories to the surface.

During the two last days, I still had some hope this news could be a hoax. But the recent Detroit Free Press article about Todd Nelson’s tragical death ended my suspicions. This drama actually happened on October the 19th,2004:
http://www.freep.com/entertainment/music/eminem22e_20041022.htm
Eminem will not attend to his uncle’s burial, but he has paid the costs of the funeral.
Marshall will have to cope with the loss of his mom’s brother and my thoughts are with him and his family members.
No matter what could have opposed Marshall and his uncle Todd, another witness of Marshall’s childhood and teenage years has gone.
R.I.P Todd Nelson.

Uncle Todd's funeral



The circumstances of Todd Nelson's recent death were first displayed in the UK tabloid "The Mirror":


The Mirror has described Eminem's uncle as a "father figure" towards Marshall. I have written an article in reaction of those statements, that are-obviously- fabricated.

Todd Nelson has never been a "father figure" for Eminem

A few weeks after Todd Nelson’s tragical death (Eminem’s uncle committed suicide on October the 19th), I don’t intend to talk bad about him. But I would like to express my anger against some British tabloids that all- of a sudden- made a « replacement father » out of Todd while he didn’t really endorse this role in Eminem’s life. I just wish some journalists would keep their facts straight and stop spreading rumors just in order to produce a « big scandal and sensation article » that will attract many curious and gullible readers.
Since Eminem’s fame, Todd Nelson has rather expressed his anger against his nephew whom he accused to fabricate his past and to be very mean towards his mom, who -according to Todd- « did her best ».
Debbie Mathers’ younger brother has also tried to sell many former drawings of Marshall and tried to make money out of each piece of his past.
When he talks about Marshall’s movie, 8 Mile, Todd’s statements are intented to make Marshall’s story look fake and fabricated.
« He’s my nephew, but I call him my ‘F.U.’ I don’t like fake people,” Nelson says. “His movie shouldn’t be called 8 Mile — it should be called ‘26 Mile’!” »
Why did Eminem’s uncle mention 26 Mile Road? He mentioned 26 Mile Road in reference to a period where Eminem was staying with his mom in a trailer park.
“Listen, Marshall had a roof over his head until he was 26 — my sister gave him my grandmother’s trailer on 26 Mile — and he couldn’t even take care of it. I got the tickets around here somewhere — he got tickets for not mowing the grass.”
In fact, Eminem refused to pay for his mom’s trailer when things worsened between the two of them. As the great majority will probably know Debbie dropped a $10 million lawsuit against her son on the line of « My Name Is » « I just found out my mom does more dope than I do ».
Eminem’s family often turned their back to Eminem and started some arguments with him when he became famous.
Marshall left the choice to his public to decide:
« I let the public for themselves decide what idiots my family is. My family has never been there for me. They expect things because we’re blood. »
If we follow Todd Nelson’s statements, Marshall bashed his mom because bashing Blacks and fags didn’t work:
“Every white male regardless of his age has something against their mother, and he’s exploiting that, so all these white males can throw themselves a pity party. He tried bashing blacks and fags and when that didn’t work he started … »
Todd would nearly manage to make somebody who doesn’t know Eminem believe that he’s a blatent racist and homophobe. His listeners know that the rage expressed against Debbie refers to real feelings and to real events. Many witnesses of Marshall’s former every day life, like Nate’s dad and some other former boyfriends of Debbie Mathers can testify what Marshall actually went through. Who would doubt that Eminem had a rough childhood? The facts he mentioned can be verified as a 100% true.
Any doubt about Debbie‘s drug addiction? Then listen to Eminem’s former friend, Mc Hush:
“When Em got back from LA recording the Slim Shady LP, he picked up me and Bizarre. He went to buy his little brother a PlayStation at Best Buy, then we went to his mother’s house in the trailer park on 26 Mile. His mom tried to be nice, but she didn’t look so good. I’d been forewarned by Em, but it was a bit of shock to see her so blew out. But then the first thing Em does is lift up her mattress and look for pills. When he says ‘I picked up the habit’ on the Marshall Mathers LP, he means it.”
Todd even went that far to state that Ronnie Polkingharn, his younger brother didn’t like Marshall:
“Ronnie was the one with the rough childhood — living out of garbage cans off the streets, being rejected by his dad. And then when my little brother died, Marshall went and got his name tattooed on him. But Ronnie didn’t even like Marshall,” Nelson says. “I got the last letter he ever wrote before he killed himself and he doesn’t even mention Marshall.”
People who know Eminem know that Marshall and Ronnie have always been very close. Marshall always called Ronnie his best friend. I strongly believe that Ronnie actually was his closest friend. Both shared the same passion for hip hop. When Marshall talks about Ronnie in songs like « My Dad’s Gone Crazy », you can feel the realness of his emotions.
Matter of fact: Eminem has spent some of his teenage years with uncle Todd at the house in Timken.
Both might even had some good memories together.
Although Betty Kresin , Marshall’s grandmother recently declared (when Todd Nelson died) that Todd « loved Marshall a lot », he has never been very supportive towards his nephew since he had became famous. So don’t make him endorse the « father figure » he never was for Marshall.
Since his early childhood, Marshall suffered from the lack of fatherly examples. He recently declared in a Rolling Stone interview that the person that was the closest to a kind of « father », was his half brother Nathan’s dad- Fred Samra.