Why Does Eminem Rap About Christopher Reeve? His Disses at Superman Explained

Rapper Eminem noticeably mentions actor and director, Christopher Reeve an above average amount of times in his music … like, 44 times. While feuds and diss tracks are completely normal in hip-hop, fans started to wonder what beef the duo could possibly have.

After all, Christopher was 20 years older than Eminem, thriving during a different era of the entertainment industry. Christopher became paralyzed in the latter part of his life and died in 2004. Yet, Eminem continued to rap about the late Superman star.

Why does Eminem rap about Christopher Reeve?
There’s no bad blood between the two, according to Eminem’s own admission in “Rain Man.” He rapped: “And let’s clear this up too; I ain’t got no beef with him either / He used to be like a hero to me / I even believe I / Had one of those 25-cent stickers on my refrigerator / Right next to Darth Vader.”

However, Eminem branding Christopher a “hero” only makes his persistent jabs that much more confusing. He first wrote Christopher into his songs in 2000 in both “Who Knew” and “I’m Back.”

He rapped: “It’s a sick world we live in these days / ‘Slim, for Pete’s sakes, put down Christopher Reeve’s legs!’ / Geez, you guys are so sensitive / ‘Slim, it’s a touchy subject, try and just don’t mention it.'”

And therein may lie the answer. Eminem is known for his desire to stir the pot and invoke a reaction in the masses. As he explained from that very first mention, he didn’t like the idea that he needed to steer clear of certain subjects in his songs, so he went out of his way to be edgy.

Christopher didn’t give much indication in life about if he was OK with the callout. He died four years after the songs’ release and Eminem didn’t stop pumping out verses mentioning him.

After his death, Eminem did catch some flack for continuing the offensive attacks. In his 2009 song “Medicine Ball,” he said: “Put Christopher Reeve on a unicycle with a kickstand / Kick it up and push him and lead him right into quicksand / Here, you need a hand, big man?”

On the track, he mocked Christopher’s voice, indicating that he’s out of breath as he sings the song as he pants. That’s where things turn a bit because Eminem suddenly isn’t idolizing Christopher anymore. He rapped: “Always hated you, and I still do.”

He made a callback to “Medicine Ball” in a freestyle when he claimed that he wasn’t aware that Christopher had died when he put out the song, but he didn’t back down from his offensive attitude.

Eminem rapped: “I need Christopher Reeve to come and lay his verse / I think he can spit it better on Medicine Ball, first / Off, I did not even realize the guy died / So I guess them Christopher Reeve jokes ain’t gonna fly.”

There’s another simple reason that he may have latched on the name: “Reeve” works well in rhyme schemes, making it pretty easy for him to replicate the effect over and over again.