EMINEM WEEK: The Mystery Of Hailie Jade Mathers Is Solved At Last
If you're familiar with Eminem's music, you know that some of his greatest tracks are inspired by his love of daughter Hailie Jade Mathers and the constant struggle with estranged wife Kim Scott for custody. Despite her undeniably huge role in pop culture history, not much is known about what became of Slim's little girl...Until now!
Like a hip hop Anastasia, numerous people claiming to be the princess of white rap have popped up on social media over the years. A year ago we presented you with our Hailie case file, laying out the pieces of the puzzle and trying to distinguish fact from hoax.But now, it looks like the mystery is finally over. Let's give you a little recap, first!
Until recently, the last confirmed HJM sighting was this photo from 2009 depicting her as a high school freshmen cheerleader. From that point onward, the trail went cold.
Then in March of 2011, a young woman made headlines for posing as Em’s lil girl on Twitter, before his management debunked the imposter. Which makes sense considering the fact that she looks NOTHING like the girl in the above photo. Judge for yourself:
The next lead came in May 2012, when Buzzfeed published photos from what was reportedly the now-16 year-old's Twitter. The internet flocked to get a look at the muse behind classics like The Marshall Mathers LP and The Slim Shady LP, but there was a problem: It might not be her. Eminem's manager fired off some tweets of his own denying that Hailie had a twitter, and by the next afternoon her alleged page had vanished.
We were able to snag some tweets and photos from this feed before it was taken down. These latest photos showed a much stronger resemblance to her famous father than any of the other posers. She has his trademark pissed off stare down pat, and plus the threads. Hell, even the puppy is throwing some serious shade.
We were torn. Was it a hoax? Maybe it really WAS Hailie Jade, and the press attracted by her Twitter made her father lose his famous temper. After all, she even admitted that he’s not fond of the limelight these days.
Or perhaps he was angry that a ton of the pictures depicted his high-schooler daughter illegally drinking Smirnoff Ice.
Or maybe the streetwise Slim was just embarrassed that she tweeted about having Bieber fever and loving One Direction.
We put it all behind us until December 2012, when the mysterious "hailiejade_x" Twitter handle started back up again by getting into a flame war with Taylor Swift! This was soon after the celebrity serial dater began stepping out with One Direction heart-throb Harry Styles. The alleged Hailie wasn't having it.
“if @taylorswift13 is really dating the love of my life @Harry_Styles i will not be happy,” she began. “Dear @taylorswift13, please stop whoring around with every guy you see. We all know you’re only doing it so you can make another album.” Clearly, the 16-year-old has her father’s vocabulary, too! “I, am never, ever, everrrrr, listening to your music againnnn @taylorswift13. LIKE EVER.”
Ouch! Eventually she calmed down and apologized for the outburst. “Wow. I didn't mean for people to react to my tweet in the way that they have it was just a bit of fun! Sorry @taylorswift13 for my immaturity. I believe I’m entitled to my own opinion, but that got out of control." Saying she's sorry? That definitely doesn't sound like Eminem's offspring to us! And it turns out we were right. By the next day, an Em rep confirmed to E! News that the real Hailie wasn't behind the Taylor-hating. The "hailiejade_x" handle vanished soon after.
But but but...we were so sure! It looked so much like him! It showed his streak of lashing out at celebs! Hell, the account even had "Yes I'm the real hailie Eminems Daughter follow me and you will see" in the bio-line! Gahh...We were at another dead end. It seemed like we would never find out what happened to the music behind classics like The Marshall Mathers LP and The Slim Shady LP. But then, like a gift from the gods of 8 Mile, came the news...Hailie Jade Scott Mathers had been crowned homecoming queen.
The big moment came on the playing fields of Chippewa Valley High School in Clinton Township, Michigan, on October 4th 2013, after students and faculty cast their votes for the girl now known as "Hailie Scott." Of course, proud papa Marshall Mathers was on hand to cheer her on; albeit from a distance. “Hailie came out with her mother Kim (Scott) when she was introduced with all the other kids but her father watched from inside the school because he didn’t want to cause a scene. He wanted Hailie to have her own moment,” a parent told the local Macomb Daily newspaper.
And there you have it: Hailie's alive and well, all grown up and apparently doing GREAT! Members of the town describe her as a "smart, athletic, and caring young woman." Glad to hear it. Mystery solved. Case closed!
[Photo: ABC/Getty/Twitter]