TMZ Emailed The Secret Service About Eminem’s Trump Lyrics. Agents Then Investigated The Rapper.

Documents obtained by BuzzFeed News show the Secret Service interviewed the rapper about his Trump lyrics after an email from a TMZ staffer.

Jason Leopold
BuzzFeed News Reporter
Last updated on October 24, 2019, at 11:49 a.m. ET
Posted on October 24, 2019, at 10:38 a.m. ET

In August 2018, Eminem announced the surprise release of his new album, Kamikaze, in a tweet, delighting his fans with 13 fiery new raps, just eight months after he dropped his last album, Revival.

Kamikaze’s lead track, “The Ringer,” immediately attracted attention on social media due to lyrics in which Eminem, a fierce critic of President Donald Trump, claimed he was visited by the Secret Service: "‘Cause Agent Orange just sent the Secret Service / To meet in person to see if I really think of hurtin’ him / Or ask if I’m linked to terrorists / I said, ‘Only when it comes to ink and lyricists.'"

At the time, the Secret Service refused to say whether agents had indeed visited Eminem, citing their policy of not commenting on or confirming “the absence or existence of specific investigations.”

So last year BuzzFeed News filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Secret Service to find out if agents really were sent to speak with Eminem.

This week, the agency turned over 40 pages of documents that prove they did in fact interview the rapper. It turns out their interest in speaking with him was based on “threatening lyrics” from his rap “Framed” that appeared on Revival. The Secret Service characterized Eminem as “exhibiting inappropriate behavior” and noted that he, via the rap, “threatens protectee.”



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