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Eminem | Nathan Kane Samara | Source: Getty Images | Instagram/nathankanemathers
Eminem | Nathan Kane Samara | Source: Getty Images | Instagram/nathankanemathers

Nathan Kane Samara & Brother Eminem’s Bond after Their Mom Lost Him to Foster Care

Milla Sigaba
Sep 21, 2023
09:15 A.M.

Nathan Kane Samara's life has not always been easy — from being taken away from his mother to surviving an abusive foster home and growing up with a father who showed no interest in his life. However, he has always had his famous brother, Eminem.

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Nathan Kane Samara is commonly known for being Eminem's younger brother, and the siblings' difficult childhood has been well documented — from the rapper's music to their interviews and mother's book.

Eminem's younger brother went through a lot growing up, and while many things have been said about his mom — including being accused by his older brother — Nathan Kane Samara has maintained a close relationship with his older brother.

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Nathan Kane Samara's Childhood

Nathan was born on February 3, 1986, and in his mother, Deborah Mathers' book, she shared that her second son had jaundice and colic and was considered premature. According to her, Eminem — born Marshall Bruce Mathers III — was not too fond of his baby brother at first, but over time, the brotherly love began to creep in. She wrote in her book:

"And, despite his initial reservations, he soon fell in love with his baby brother. He cradled Nathan to sleep, gave him his bottle, and mothered him to pieces."

Nathan had his brother's love but had a strained relationship with his father, Fred. In his mother's book, she details raising Nathan alone, as his father had left her when she was pregnant.

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Deborah revealed that Nathan's childhood was nothing like his brother's, who had fond memories and family vacations across the country. Instead, Fred attempted to sever his rights to Nathan multiple times and did not pay child support until his son was well into his teenage years.

She physically abused Nathan, chased him around the house for listening to rap music, and kept him away from school.

"Nathan never understood why Fred had been so good to Marshall but didn't want to know him. I couldn't explain it to him either. I was too hurt that Fred has abandoned us," Nathan's mother shared in her book.

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Nathan's home life only worsened after being removed from his mother's care and placed in a foster home for sixteen months. It was an uphill battle for his mother to be granted visitation, and Deborah revealed her suspicions that Nathan was being abused.

Once she was allowed to see her son — under what felt like the menacing watchful eye of social workers — she recalled how Nathan tried to tell her about the cruelty he was suffering in his foster home. She also revealed he used to draw pictures of himself with "help" written in speech bubbles.

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Nathan Kane Samara's Mother Was Accused of Mistreating Him

Deborah has candidly opened up about the accusations she has faced, which claimed she physically abused Nathan, chased him around the house for listening to rap music, and kept him away from school.

She responded by saying she never laid a hand on her son, and after trying to bring to protective services' attention the harm Nathan was enduring at school, the blame fell back on her.

Nathan's brother has also aired the dirty laundry about their home life in his music "Cleanin' Out my Closet" released in 2002 and "My Mom" released in 2009. But in his song "Headlights," Eminem revealed that he had forgiven his mother and used the track to apologize to her publicly.

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Eminem Was His Brother's Keeper

Nathan's brother used to protect him from bullies, but that stopped after the Grammy-winning rap superstar faced probation. Even though Eminem could no longer take risks to avoid getting into more trouble, he would still spend time with his little brother, who sometimes went with him on tour.

By the time Nathan was 16, he had left the foster system and his mother's care and moved in with his older brother. However, when he was still in foster care, the rapper took his father's place in visiting Nathan. Deborah revealed:

"So Marshall was allowed visits. Now, he was almost twenty-four and a father himself. He was busy but felt obligated to spend time with his younger brother."

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Nathan Kane Samara Followed in His Brother's Musical Footsteps

Under his brother's roof, Nathan discovered his passion for music. However, unlike his famous sibling, he pursued a career as a DJ. During an appearance on his niece Hailee's podcast — whom he grew up with after moving in with his older brother — Nathan recalled turning his closet into a DJing space.

Despite his fear of being unfairly compared to his brother, Nathan tried making music and turned to a friend to teach him everything he knew about DJing, from spinning to several scratching techniques.

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And what started as him DJing in the background of cyber chat rooms turned into a fully-fledged career that has seen Nathan perform at private events, weddings, and grand openings. However, he's been on the fence about performing in clubs.

In May 2018, Nathan and Ashley, officially became Mr. and Mrs.

According to his Instagram bio, Nathan has also grown his area of expertise to include being an entrepreneur and actor. He has appeared in multiple of his brother's music videos since 2000, including being a fan in "The Way I Am." In 2020, he played Detective Liam O'Connor in the film "Devil's Night: Dawn of the Nain Rouge."

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Nathan Kane Samara Said His Older Brother Was the Best Role Model He Could Ever Have

Although Eminem was still quite young when he first became a father and had to handle parenthood with the added responsibility of taking care of his little brother, Nathan sang his brother's praises and said:

"He was the best role model I could have had that helped me be the dad that I am today."

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In May 2018, Nathan and Ashley officially became Mr. and Mrs. after welcoming three children. The DJ took to Instagram to share a picture of him and his bride on their wedding day in Miami, Florida.

Nathan also posted a photo of the newlyweds with their three kids and captioned the post "Family" with several emoticons. A few days later, Nathan's wife shared another beautiful photo of him, his wife, and their three children.

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