It feels like 2009 all over again, because Mariah Carey, 51, is bringing her hit song “Obsessed” — and by proxy, her rumored past fling with Eminem, 48, — back into the spotlight. On Wednesday, June 16, Mariah celebrated the 12-year anniversary of her anthem with a hilarious TikTok video that featured the star poking fun at Slim Shady, who, as fans should surely recall, claimed way back in 2002 that the two had a fling. “Obsessed,” which was released in 2009, was all but confirmed to be aimed at Eminem for his claims that Mariah has vehemently denied.
In the video, Mariah takes on the viral “Wipe It Down” TikTok challenge by cleaning the mirror in her closet dressed in a pink robe with hair curlers and a blue face mask. Then, the Grammy winner smoothly transitions into a glammed-up look before she also transforms into what is clearly meant to be Eminem as he’s depicted in the “Obsessed” music video. She captioned the video, “Just for laughs… from last year’s lockdown when all I did was wipe tings down 🧽😂 #HappyAnniversaryObsessed.”
The Mariah-Eminem drama is complex, to say the least. It all started in 2002, when Eminem (aka Marshall Mathers) alleged in his rap song “Superman” that they had a relationship. “What you trying to be, my new wife? / What you, Mariah? Fly through twice.” Mariah went on to deny she was ever romantically involved with Eminem on Larry King Live. “I hung out with him, I spoke to him on the phone,” she said. “I think I was probably with him a total of four times. And I don’t consider that dating somebody.”
But the drama didn’t stop there, as Eminem continued to insist he dated Mariah. “There’s truth to that,” he said to Rolling Stone in 2002 when discussing this alleged relationship. Mariah later shot back at Eminem’s trash-talking in 2003 on her song “Clown.” True to his nature, Eminem kept the spectacle going by playing voicemail clips that were allegedly from Mariah during his 2005 Anger Management tour. He also took shots at her on 2006’s Eminem Presents: The Re-Up and on 2009’s Relapse, telling Nick Cannon (after Mariah married him) that he should “better back the f-ck up / I’m not playin’, I want her back, you punk.”
Come 2009, Mariah delivered what fans consider to be the final blow to the beef with “Obsessed.” She dressed like Eminem to talk a version of herself (though she never mentions Slim by name) in the music video, and the song itself became a hit, reaching No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. In response, Eminem dropped “The Warning”— a diss track that alleged they were together for six months, that they’d had sex, and other claims. Overall, Mariah is considered to be the clear winner in the drama, which may just never end.
