Benzino says that Michael Jackson once thanked him for dissing Eminem amid his long-standing feud with the Detroit rapper. Benzino reflected on getting a phone call from Jackson at the time during a recent appearance on The Gauds Show. He explained that the King of Pop was upset with Eminem for poking fun at him with the music video for “Just Lose It.”
“Let me tell you, Michael Jackson called me,” Benzino revealed to hosts Ray Daniels and Tamira Smith. “I knew Mike. I met Mike through Teddy [Riley]. He called me and he thanked me. Because when Eminem dissed him with the fire situation, in the [‘Just Lose It’] video, Mike called — and I remember his assistant put him on the phone — and I sat there and listened to him. And he thanked me.”
Benzino At A Screening In 2022
From there, Benzino continued: “He started talking about Tommy Mottola. And it was one of the greatest moments of my life. And I’m not saying it because all white people are bad. We’re not saying that. Not all of them are devils. But Mike was referring to the situation in the music industry, and he was just going on a rant. But I’ll never forget that. I was at a point in my life that I didn’t have to answer to nobody. Everything I said was true. I said that Black people got Hip Hop and we got white people to finally buy into it. And now, they wanna give white people something that they can buy into. When Eminem came out, he just got different treatment than every other Black rapper. And I just didn’t appreciate that.”
Benzino’s beef with Eminem flared up again in 2022 when the legendary rapper was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Benzino’s daughter, Coi Leray, congratulated Eminem, prompting a public spat between the two of them.
Benzino Recalls The Phone Call From Michael Jackson
[Via]