In the long history of pop and hip-hop feuds, few have lingered as strangely—or as stubbornly—as the clash between Mariah Carey and Eminem. At the center of it all lies a single question that Carey has asked for years, half amused and half exasperated: Why is he so obsessed with a relationship that never happened?
To Carey, Eminem’s repeated references to her across multiple songs are not flattering or dramatic—they are simply weird. Not because they are harsh, but because they are built on a story she insists is entirely fictional.
Where the Story Split in Two
The controversy began in the early 2000s. Eminem publicly claimed that he and Carey had been romantically involved, weaving her name into his lyrics and interviews. On his 2002 album The Eminem Show, tracks like “Superman” and “When the Music Stops” suggested a failed fling.
Carey’s version could not have been more different. She has repeatedly stated that they met only a few times in a strictly professional context. No romance. No secret relationship. Nothing resembling the emotional saga Eminem described.
Things escalated when Eminem played alleged voicemails—claimed to be from Carey—during his Anger Management Tour. To Carey, this crossed from exaggeration into fabrication, reinforcing what she viewed as a narrative untethered from reality.
“Obsessed”: Pop’s Most Polite Diss
In 2009, Carey finally responded—not with interviews, but with a hit record. Her single Obsessed, produced by The-Dream and Tricky Stewart, flipped the entire situation on its head.
Rather than rage, Carey chose mockery. The song’s hook asked plainly, “Why you so obsessed with me?”—a line that instantly entered pop culture. The music video amplified the message: Carey appeared in drag as a hoodie-wearing, goateed stalker unmistakably modeled after Eminem, turning his fixation into satire.
Commercially, the strategy worked. Obsessed became a global hit, peaking at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and eventually earning triple-platinum status. The public largely sided with Carey’s framing: this was less a feud than a one-sided fixation.
Eminem Fires Back—Mariah Moves On
Eminem responded with “The Warning,” a blistering diss track threatening to release more “receipts.” Yet after that moment, the dynamic shifted. Eminem continued to reference Carey sporadically in later years. Carey, by contrast, stopped engaging.
In her 2020 memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey, she barely mentions him at all—a silence that speaks volumes. To her, the alleged relationship was never significant enough to deserve space in her life story.
Why It Still Feels “Weird”
What makes Eminem’s songs about Mariah Carey so uncomfortable for her isn’t the insult—it’s the insistence. From Carey’s perspective, the music documents an emotional reality she never shared, turning a brief professional encounter into a saga of obsession.
In the end, Obsessed stands as the final word. Eminem may still rap about it—but Mariah Carey has long since changed the station, leaving the feud behind as a strange, unresolved footnote in pop history.