A judge has denied a request by Eminem’s mother to collect more money for settling a pair of lawsuits against the rap superstar. Debbie R. Mathers-Briggs tried to change attorneys and protest efforts forcing her into a settlement of $25,000 in her claims against her son, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III.
“It’s clearly a settlement,” Macomb (Mich.) County Circuit Judge Mark S. Switalski ruled yesterday (June 4). “If someone feels remorse subsequent to it, that doesn’t change that it is a settlement, established in writing by agents of the parties.”
The judge ruled that Mathers-Briggs, who initially sued for $12 million, had abandoned her legal standing to jockey for more money.
Her new lawyer said the $25,000 settlement is invalid. “She didn’t sign anything, and this so-called settlement went through after she’d already written a letter attempting to fire her attorney,” Michael Marsalese said.
Mathers-Briggs filed two defamation lawsuits over Eminem’s statements in magazines and radio talk-show interviews that portray her as an unstable, lawsuit-happy drug user who moved about aimlessly during the rapper’s formative years. She sued for $10 million in 1999 and an estimated $2 million last year.
“Debbie dropped the lawsuit because she wanted to try reconciling with her son,” Mathers-Briggs’ mother, Betty Kresin of St. Joseph, Mo., told The Macomb Daily. “But then she’s told me she wants to bring it back, and then she doesn’t, and I don’t know what’s going on.”
Eminem was to appear today in Oakland County Circuit Court for sentencing on a weapons possession charge, but the hearing was postponed because the judge’s docket was full. The 28-year-old rapper faces sentencing after pleading no contest to a felony charge of carrying a concealed weapon and a misdemeanor charge of brandishing a weapon during a fight with a rival Detroit rap group.
Oakland County Circuit Judge Denise Langford Morris has said she is unlikely to consider jail time for Eminem.Copyright 2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.