‘I don’t want to end up rich and alone.’ (Eminem)
Marshall, who has known poverty is very conscious that money can’t buy him love. He’s a devoted and caring family man. After all and despite all his ex wife Kim has put him through, (he expresses it in his recent song ‘I love you more’), he still has feelings for her. When Marshall knew about Kim’s jail sentence, he was totally devastated. According to ‘Star Magazine’, Marshall cried: “Oh man, my Pooh Bear,30 days in the can!”
About Kim’s jail sentence, Todd Nelson says :
“She’s having a tough time of it in jail. She’s in the general prison population, but if there are any problems she could be placed in protective custody. After all, she was the wife of a big celebrity and still has strong ties to him.”
On the cover of a New Mag issue, you can see a picture of Marshall crying. Sometimes, he feels like his problems are too heavy to bear.
Since June 2003, Marshall had to face a lot of legal trouble. Worried about the fact his daughter could end up in a foster home when Kim was caught with some cocaine in her car, Marshall had to ask very fast for Hailie’s custody while he was touring. Eminem was also worried about losing Whitney, Kim’s second daughter with Eric Hartter, who lives with him. When Kim went back to Eminem in 2002, Marshall accepted to raise Whitney as his own daughter. But Mary, Eric Hartter’s mom sued Marshall in order to have some visitation rights.
Although Kim has tried to prove that Eminem was unfit to raise Hailie in 2001, the judge ruled that he was a ‘loving, devoted’ father and he allowed him to share custody.
Not even his worst enemies would deny the love Marshall feels for his little daughter. Hailie Jade is the best gift life has given to Marshall and he wants to be the best father for her.
It is even known that Marshall did anything possible to go home early after the 8 Mile Premiere. He wanted to be able to drive Hailie at school next morning.
Eminem has battled to reunite his family. As his grandmother Betty Kresin points it out, he is very family orientated:
‘He loves Kim and Hailie. He is a terrific father and very family orientated.
‘He doesn’t have a nanny.
‘He loves children. If he had his way he’d have a lot of children. He always wanted to a family.’
J.R Watkins, Kim’s cousin describes Marshall as a very good father:
“He’s a very good daddy. He’s trying to give Hailie more of a normal life than he had.”
Eminem’s former neighbor, Mary Russo, can testify that she often saw Daddy and daughter having fun out of their house:
Neighbours at his old house say he was always out playing with Hailie:
‘He dotes on her.
‘He scooters round the block with her on her bike. They are always giggling and having fun.’
A source that is close to Eminem said that Hailie expressed the wish to live full time with her daddy after Kim’s legal problems:
‘Hailie has indicated she wants to live with her dad full time and given Kim’s track record with drink and this latest drug arrest, Eminem believes he has a real chance of custody.
‘But he will only do it with Hailie’s blessing. He won’t do anything to hurt her.’
Eminem would sacrifice anything for his little girl and he deserves a lot of admiration for that.
Often described as a complete asshole and a bad boy by the media, Marshall is certainly not the horrible monster some people would like you to believe he is.
Marshall is a devoted family man who enjoys spending time with kids. Jerry Watkins can testify it: while she was cooking (at the time she was in good terms with Eminem), Marshall was playing around with her daughters and Hailie disguised as Kermit The Frog.
Betty Kresin is so right about it. Life should be easy for Marshall now, but he is still struggling and facing a lot of problems:
‘He has to wear a bullet-proof vest sometimes because of threats from rappers and people who used to work for him. He should be sitting on Easy Street. But instead, he’s still struggling.”
Stephania Synod, who is a senior student at Warren Lincoln High School summarizes it well.
“He has a lot of repressed anger and when he raps about that everyone always hates on him’
“Coming from this neighborhood, we understand how it is. It’s cool knowing someone coming from south Warren can become something great. It kind of gives me hope. And when he talks about how much he loves his daughter, it just shows that he has a heart and he’s not all hard-core rap.”
Marshall has a big heart for his daughter and for his family. He has a heart for his loyal fans. He is a role model for a youth that will look at his life story and learn from it that you ‘can do anything you set your mind to.’