Eminem and Christina Aguilera's Beef: Remembering the Fiery Feud between the Stars

The fiery feud between music icons Eminem and Christina Aguilera has lasted for nearly two decades, and the reasons behind it have become murky.

Pop culture icons Eminem and Christina Aguilera were embroiled in a toxic two-decade-long feud, exchanging accusations with each other through their music and social media.

Learn about the incident that sparked the beef and the anger that kept the feud alive from its beginning in 1999 up until the last blast in 2018.

Christina Aguilera and Eminem were two of the biggest stars in the music business in the 90s and 2000s, but they quickly became as famous for their beef as their music.

The two highly acclaimed musicians couldn't be more different: he is a street-wise rapper who grew up in poverty in Detroit, and she is a pop diva from Staten Island, New York City, with a passion for soul music and blues.

But it wasn't their backgrounds of divergent musical genres that led to the bad blood between Aguilera and Eminem; it was a remark made during an interview.

How Did Christina Aguilera and Eminem's Feud Start?

Eminem's personal life provided the trigger for the feud. For years, the rapper had been in a turbulent relationship with Kim Scott, his longtime girlfriend and the mother of his oldest daughter, Hailey Jade.

He had recorded a song, "Kim," expressing hatred for a woman and fantasizing about killing her. Then rumors started to fly that he had secretly married Scott.

Aguilera commented on the rumor on MTV's 1999 special, "What A Girl Wants," and expressed outrage at the implicit approval of domestic abuse in the lyrics of the song "Kim."

She commented that she's heard he had married Kim Scott, the woman he'd named his song about murder and abuse after, on one of his records.

Eminem got wind of the interview and lashed back by writing a song in which he reviled Aguilera for commenting on his life.

The song "The Real Slim Shady" came out in 2000. In the song, he rapped about Aguilera in unflattering terms that left little to the imagination and accused her of giving him a venereal disease. He rapped:

"Christina Aguilera better switch me chairs (...) Little [expletive ] put me on blast on MTV/ Yeah, he's cute, but I think he's married to Kim, hehe!."

The video for "The Real Slim Shady" was nominated for six MTV Video Music Awards in 2000 and won two: Video of the Year and Best Male Video.

Two years later, he won again, and the celebrity who handed the Best Male Video Award to Eminem was Christina Aguilera. The two musicians were polite to each other, and it seemed as if the feud was over.

Has Eminem Said Anything about His Beef with Christina Aguilera?

Even though he never spoke about his feud with Aguilera, the rapper did not relent in his antagonism toward the pop singer. Eminem didn't forgive, and he didn't forget, and in 2018, he launched the song "Kick Off."

In the song, he rapped about being aggressive with Aguilera in crude sexual terms and commented viciously on the size of her breasts.

The song ignited outrage among fans who found the lyrics offensive and disrespectful, but Eminem never apologized to Aguilera.

What Has Christina Aguilera Said About Her Feud with Eminem?

In an interview with Billboard in 2018, the journalist spoke about how Eminem's attack on Aguilera in 1999 would not be tolerated by the public nearly 20 years later.

In 2019, Aguilera was interviewed by Andy Cohen on "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen," and in response to a question about the 2018 attack by Eminem, she replied:

"It's not nice to go after anybody, especially a female in this business, and now, what we're looking at and seeing come to the forefront, it's just, gets a new gig. Have something else to talk about."

Hopefully, Eninem will let sleeping dogs lie and allow the feud he's been waging against Aguilera to end, if not in friendship, at least in respect.