Eminem is an intensely famous — and polarizing — rapper. From his persona life to his lyrics, he’s a deeply controversial figure.
Among other things, Eminem has been accused of homophobia more than once. Not unusual within rap lyrics, but also not acceptable.
So color us surprised when Eminem casually mentions that he’s been been looking for dates … using Grindr.
We want to give you background and we will, but this is so unexpected that we want you to go ahead and see what he said.
In an interview with Vulture, Eminem talks about what he’s been up to lately.
“Since my divorce, I’ve had a few dates and nothing’s panned out in a way that I wanted to make it public.”
That is a very, very common post-divorce experience.
“Dating’s just not where I’m at lately.”
Naturally, Eminem’s interviewer asked if he’d used any dating apps.
“Yeah, Tinder. And Grindr. I also used to go to strip clubs.”
Before we dive into that Grindr revelation — and it’s a lot — we should talk about the idea of a celebrity using regular-people dating apps.
Imagine flipping through Tinder to make some snap judgments about people’s faces, only to be shown the face of the guy whose music played at one of your middle school dances.
There are celebrities-only dating apps — like Raya — to prevent starstruck fans from using them to stalk their favorite celebs.
It may be that Eminem figured that he’d try his luck with those starstruck fans.
Also, just for the record, going to strip clubs seems like a terrible way to find a date. Also, strip clubs are definitely not an app.
As for the Grindr bit … it’s really, really hard to tell if Eminem was joking or not.
If so, he was probably joking about Tinder, too. If not … well, Grindr is just for dudes.
Grindr does have a straight version — but that’s called Blendr.
Just because it’s by the same people doesn’t mean that you can use the names interchangeably. If you get a new iPhone, you’re not going to refer to it as your MacBook Pro or whatever.
Grindr is for gay men and for bi men and for men who use other labels (or none at all), and while some folks use it to “make friends” and while it’s opening up to some nonbinary folks … it’s really, really not the app to use to meet women.
So, has Eminem been dating men?
Among various other controversies, as we said, Eminem has been accused of homophobia.
He’s been very casual about throwing around anti-gay slurs that we wouldn’t care to repeat, but when asked if he hates gay people by Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, Eminem replied:
“No, I don’t have any problem with nobody. You know what I mean? I’m just like whatever.”
He’s also said that he grew up with those slurs and other anti-gay remarks thrown around as generic negative terms, rather than as anti-gay weapons.
We’d point out that the idea is to grow up and stop using those words. Eminem’s daughter is in college, which makes him more than old enough to have some self-awareness.
But have his offensive lyrics been some sort of veneer? Might Eminem be bisexual and casually revealing it in an interview?
Fans are divided.
Some fans on Twitter were freaking out:
“Eminem casually mentions in an interview he uses Grindr and the reporter DOESN’T follow up?? Worst journalism of the year.”
Others dismissed it as a joke:
“Am i missing something or is it not obvious the eminem grindr thing was a joke”
Billy Eichner seems to be taking it seriously:
“IMHO I don’t think Eminem was really joking when he said he uses Grindr. He is very smart and self-aware. I think he knows people will *think* he’s joking – and that his rep will say he’s joking – but I don’t think he’s joking. And good for him!”
Colton Haynes actually responded to Eichner’s tweet with:
“Didn’t u know he and I used to date?”
That, at least, we’re pretty sure is a joke. Maybe like … 80% joking. Probably.
We don’t really know if Eminem’s history of domestic violence accusations and homophobic lyrics are likely to get him welcomed into the LGBT+ community with open arms.
On the other hand, Eminem’s been singing about hating Trump a lot lately. That’s a solid way to endear himself to a majority of the country.
