Eminem’s half-brother Nathan “Nate” Mathers shared a five-word post on Instagram the day after the death of their mother.
On Tuesday, Dec. 3, Nathan, 38, shared a post on his Instagram Stories following the death of his mom Debbie Nelson on Dec. 2 that simply read, “Hatred and mixed emotions today.”
Nelson died at age 69 from complications related to lung cancer in St. Joseph, Mo., on Monday, Dec. 2, a rep for Eminem, 52, confirmed to PEOPLE. TMZ was first to report the news of Nelson’s death.
Nelson’s illness was first reported by multiple outlets in September.
Nelson welcomed her youngest son, music producer Nathan, with her boyfriend Fred Samra when Eminem (real name 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 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. He remained estranged from his father up until his death at age 67 in 2019.
Eminem was declared his brother Nathan’s legal guardian when Nathan was 16 after he was in foster care for nearly 10 years.
Eminem recalled to Rolling Stone in 2004, “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— 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.
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The musician’s fight for custody of his brother came amid a tumultuous relationship with mom Nelson, having famously dissed her in some of his earlier songs, including the 2002 track “Cleanin’ Out My Closet.” which led to Nelson suing her son for $11 million for defamation, PEOPLE previously reported.
Following his guardianship over the years, Nathan, who is now married with three children, credits his older brother as being “the best role model I could have had.”
Speaking on Eminem’s daughter Hailie Jade’s podcast Just a Little Shady in February 2023, Nathan said, “He was the best role model I could have had to help me be the dad that I am today.”
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