Elton John: “For me, Eminem was never homophobic”

When Elton John and Eminem performed together at the 2001 Grammy Awards, it was a divisive television moment. Eminem was under fire for his homophobic lyrics, and John’s appearance was viewed by many as accepting this behaviour.

Now, sixteen years after that performance, Elton John has explained his thoughts on Eminem.

During an interview with Beats 1’s Zane Lowe, John defended Eminem:

“For me, Eminem was never homophobic,” he said. “I listened to the whole of the ‘Marshall Mathers’ album when I drove to a show in South Hampton and I was floored by it. And I thought how could anyone think this is… he’s just writing about the way things are. Not how he thinks, but the way things are.”

Elton John likened it to an appearance at the MTV Music Awards with Axl Rose, who penned the fiercely homophobic (among its many crimes) ‘One In A Million’. Rose was a longtime admirer of Elton John.

“I did the MTV Music Awards with him and the Guns N’ Roses and I did the Grammys with Marshall”, John explains.

“I became very big friends with Marshall. I’ll fight for anyone who is misunderstood and misrepresented by the idiots out there.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY2p7oE7Bpw

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