Eminem is filming videos, fielding an offer for a movie part and has a book in the works but the top-selling bad boy rapper must also make room in his schedule for a couple of trials, one going back to court today.
It comes after the Detroit kid, born Marshall Mathers
III, hit it big on the hip-hop music scene then came home to Warren, Illinois, and got into trouble with the law.
The rapper known for his rapid-fire lyrics had little to say in a Warren courtroom recently as Judge Sherman Faunce bound him over for trial on charges of assault and carrying a concealed weapon.
The proceedings were routine except for a gargantuan bodyguard in a black silk suit and gasping teenagers in the courtroom.
"I might faint when I see him," said Jennifer Ball, 17. She convinced her mother to rent a car and drive her from Minnesota for the hearing.
Eminem is accused of pulling an unloaded handgun on a man whom his wife kissed in the parking lot of a Warren nightclub. Police say he hit the man, John Guerra, with the gun. Guerra sued for assault.
The 27-year-old entertainer, whose album The Marshall Mathers LP has sold more than six million copies, may have as many court dates as concert dates ahead of him.
He is due in court for a pre-trial hearing concerning a run-in with a rival band. He is fighting Guerra's lawsuit and one filed by his mother, Deborah Mathers-Briggs, claiming he defamed her in song and in interviews.
He is also settling disputes in his divorce from wife Kim Mathers. A $US10 ($23.57) million lawsuit by his estranged wife was settled confidentially.
- NZPA
