Marshall and Kim have known each other since the time they were teenagers. Moreover, Kim grew up at Debbie’s home as his foster sister.
Both started dating when Marshall was about 16. Because it has constantly been off and on,their relationship has often been qualified of being ‘rocky’ and ‘volatile’. Marshall and Kim have a daughter, Hailie Jade, in common, who was born on Christmas day in 1995.
Marshall and Kim were married in June 1999 and chose to separate legally in August 2000. His divorce was certainly a hard pill to swallow for Eminem. During this dark period of his life, Marshall and Kim’s privacy have been exposed more than ever. When he caught Kim cheating on him with John Guerra, Marshall took the decision to divorce in early June. Then in July, Kim attempted suicide at their home in Sterling Heights in presence of her mom (Kathleen Sluck, who gave the 911 call) and of Eminem’s brother Nathan.
Marshall was the first to file divorce papers against Kim in August 2000, because he saw this divorce as unavoidable. You will be able to check out his divorce complaint here:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/emdivorce1.html
Then, in December 2000, Eminem and Kim tried to work out their problems and to give their marriage a second chance.
Both signed an agreement to dismiss the divorce claims, also for their daughter Hailie’s highest interest.
But, then again, Kim filed divorce against Marshall in March 2000: she was seeking now physical and legal custody of Hailie, for high childcare costs. Kim was also trying to prove Marshall was unfit to raise Hailie.
The Court decided that Marshall was a ‘loving, devoted’ father and allowed Marshall to share custody of his daughter. The childcare costs had been set to $142,480 a year.
She also had a 10 Million $ lawsuit inside her palm for defamation: Kim was suing Marshall for defamation on the song ‘Kim’. Many people may argue that the song ‘Kim’ ended Eminem’s marriage with Kim, which is something I really doubt. Let me tell you why.
The song ‘Kim’ was written in 1998, at a time both were separated. The song ‘Kim’ was a way for Marshall to get Kim back in his life. It was just another way to tell her:
‘Look, this is how I feel about the way you treated me. I do suffer a lot. But I definitly want you back in my life. Can’t live without you.’
‘Kim’ is not the only ‘lyrical murder’ of Marshall’s baby’s mom. In his song ’97 Bonnie and Clyde, Kim gets murdered as well. And, as far as we know, Kim didn’t react that badly to the ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ song nor to the ‘Kim’ song, that Eminem and his ex wife used to call ‘the media’s favorite’:
‘When Kim first heard 97 Bonnie and Clyde she said ‘Your an asshole…bla bla bla…but when she heard the song Kim, it’s funny because I will always remember this, we were sitting in the car. I looked at her and I said ‘Well, do you have anything to say?’ She looked over at me and said ‘Your crazy, seriously…your fuckin’ crazy!”(Eminem)
Then how shall we explain Kim’s sudden ressentment against Marshall?
We should remember that Eminem was performing on stage at the ‘Up In Smoke Tour’ with a naked Kim doll. A Kim doll he was beating up on stage. Which Kim felt as humiliating.
Some other facts may also remain in the shadow of the public’s eye.
Eminem’s divorce has been finalized in March 2001. Eminem and Kim have been back together several times since their divorce. It has been on and off, again and again. Their relationship is far from being simple: there is a lot of pain, anger, frustration, addiction love and hate inside of it.
Marshall has made an attempt to define it in his recent and beautiful song ‘I Love You More’ in which he warns anybody who is trying to stereotype his relationship to Kim:
‘And anybody who thinks they know us doesn’t know shit…’
Don’t try to judge a story that escapes to the ordinary rules of conventional couples…