After two decades of speculation, music producer Damion “Damizza” Young may have just revealed the moment that ignited the now-infamous feud between Eminem and Mariah Carey.
Speaking on the TFU Podcast, the 50-year-old producer—who began working with Mariah in the late ’80s—claimed he was the one who introduced the two music legends. According to Young, Eminem initially reached out because he wanted Carey to star in his 2002 film “8 Mile.” But the proposed role? Not exactly what Carey had in mind.
“I want you to play my mother,” Eminem reportedly said during a three-way call with Mariah and Damizza.
Young recalls, “She did not like that s–t at all. Her insecurities kicked in big time.” For context, Mariah is only four years older than Eminem, while the role of B-Rabbit’s mom ultimately went to Kim Basinger, who is 19 years his senior.
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“I Knew It Would Be a Problem”
Young admitted he had warned Eminem not to pitch the idea to Carey.
“Don’t do this. I know where you’re going with this,” he told Em.
But he let it happen anyway, worried that if the offer came from someone else later, “I’m the bad guy.”
The interaction reportedly left a bad taste, and according to Young, it snowballed from there. While Eminem has claimed their beef stemmed from a failed romantic relationship, which Mariah has consistently denied, Damizza offered a more unfiltered version of events.
“She was chasing him,” he alleged, even claiming Carey visited Eminem in Detroit. He added that things eventually soured when Em “had done this and that,” leaving Carey in a bad place emotionally.
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Diss Tracks, Denials, and the “Obsessed” Clapback
The feud turned lyrical in 2002, with Eminem throwing shots at Mariah in “Superman,” “When the Music Stops,” and later “Jimmy Crack Corn.”
Mariah, for her part, told Larry King that same year that she and Eminem only “hung out … a total of four times,” which she did “not consider dating.”
Then came the ultimate clapback: Mariah’s 2009 hit “Obsessed”—a thinly veiled parody of Eminem, complete with a music video that portrayed a stalker wearing a hoodie and goatee eerily similar to the rapper’s style.
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While neither Eminem nor Mariah Carey have responded to Young’s latest claims, one thing is certain: this feud has layers, history, and still isn’t cooling off anytime soon.
