Eminem, 47, and Rihanna, 31, have had a great relationship for years — but eyebrows were raised after a leaked track seemed to imply otherwise. A new leaked track surfaced on Reddit last week, titled “(SNIPPET) Eminem – Things Get Worse (Rihanna dissed).” The song — recorded in 2009 when he was working on his Relapse album — included the lyrics, “I’m not playing, Rihanna, where’d you get the V.D. at? Let me add my two cents/Of course, I side with Chris Brown/I’d beat a b— down, too if she gave my d— an itch now.” V.D. is a slang abbreviation for venereal disease, which refers to a group of STDs including gonorrhea and syphilis.
Eminem has since addressed the controversial lyrics — which later appeared re-written from a verse that were on B.o.B.’s 2011 mixtape E.P.I.C. — through a rep. “This is a leak of something that’s over ten years old,” AEG’s Dennis Dennehy said to XXL in a statement. “After Eminem recorded it, he scrapped it and rewrote it. He and Rihanna have a great relationship.” Eminem and Rihanna have joined forces for a trio of hits, including 2010’s “Love The Way You Lie,” 2012’s “Numb” and 2013’s “The Monster.” The duo also hit the road together for the six date Monster Tour in August 2014, playing concerts in Pasadena, Detroit and East Rutherford.
The lyrics make a clear reference to Chris Brown beating his then-girlfriend Rihanna after the 2009 Grammy Awards, which, while over 10 years ago, is impossible to forget. The “Umbrella” songstress had a black eye, brutally swollen lip and several other injuries which required her to go to a hospital. Chris was charged for the incident and while he avoided spending any time in jail, he was under five years of probation. Rihanna later said that the argument began over her discovery of text messages from another woman on Chris’ phone. “There was no person when I looked at him [as he hit me],” she said in an interview with ABC in Nov. 2009. “He had no soul in his eyes. Just blank.”
Rihanna and Chris controversially reconciled in 2012 after the shocking incident, defiantly releasing the track “Birthday Cake” from her album Talk That Talk. Romantically, the duo have since moved on but appear to stay in each other’s orbits: both celebrated Drake’s 33rd birthday in Los Angeles just last month, for example.
The Fenty Beauty CEO — who is now happily dating Saudi billionaire Hassan Jameel — has not responded to the leaked lyrics on social media, though did share a post on Nov. 13 addressing her social media break. “to all my friends/family/coworkers who I have yet to get back to in the past months…please forgive me. this year has been quite an overwhelming one, and I’m working on that ish called Balance. brb,” she captioned a selfie.