Eminem Trash Talked Michael Jordan Years Ago and He Regretted It Immediately

No one can diss rap legend Eminem without getting flayed alive. But when the rapper unloaded one on basketball legend Michael Jordan during a phone call, he immediately regretted it. And it was one of his most embarrassing experiences.

“Em, you ever got a chance to meet Michael Jordan?” asked music producer Paul Rosenberg during a podcast on Southpawer.

“Not in person, but I talked with him on the phone one time, and we were talking about doing some kind of shoot together. Everything was cool, he’s super cool. Everything was good until we get to the end of the phone call and I said, ‘Yo man, when are you gonna come to Detroit so I can dunk on you?’ And it was crickets,” said Eminem, referring to the long silence that followed after his joke. 

“I don’t remember exactly what he said, but he was like, ‘Ha, ha, ha, ha.’ I remember going off the phone, thinking ‘Oh my god I think I might have just blew it,’ Eminem added.

“To me in my head, it was a total joke. It’s so ridiculous for me to think that I could dunk on Michael Jordan. It’s one of those things that you think is going to be funnier in your head than when you actually say it.”

“It was one of those things that in my head was so ridiculous that he has to know I was joking. But when I got off the phone, I was thinking, ‘I don’t think he knew I was joking!’

Eminem also mentioned how he thought of Jordan as very competitive, based on the documentary The Last Dance, which he has been watching during the quarantine. He described the documentary as something that gives a sense of normalcy amid the pandemic.

“That Jordan documentary is incredible,” said Eminem.

Listen to Eminem’s interview on Southpawer below. The part where he talks about trash talking Jordan starts at 3:35.