All about Eminem’s mother Debbie Nelson-Mathers

If you are a fan of rap music then definitely name Deborah aka Debbie Nelson Mathers ring a bell. Yes, you guessed it, she is the mother of award-winning rapper Eminem.

Today we are going to talk about Deborah Mather and find out all the intimate details of her personal life. Take a look at her family life, siblings, husbands, children and net worth.

Deborah R. Nelson-Mathers: Age, Parents, and Siblings

Debbie Nelson-Mathers is an American national and was born in 1955 on a military base in Kansas. As of 2023, she is 68 years old. She is the daughter of Betty Hixson And Robert Ray Nelson. Her father was in the US Army. Before his retirement, the family lived a nomadic lifestyle, traveling to California, Italy and Germany.

She belongs to Cherokee Indian and Scottish races. She holds an American nationality and belongs to a white ethnic group.

Her early childhood was quite depressing. She was only seven when her parents decided to separate. At the time, her father flatly denied that any of her siblings, Todd, was his son. This led Deborah and Steven to live with her father and Todd with their mother.

Later, her father reunited with his family. It was around this time that her mother began an extramarital affair with Ron Gilpin. Her father finally found out when her stepsister Tanya was born in 1964.

Betty later married Ron, but unfortunately her stepfather was quite abusive. They shared a lot of time and that lasted a long time.

Betty has a total of six children, all with three different husbands. They are Todd Nelson, Steve Nelson, Ronnie Polkinghorn, Betti (Betty) Renee, Tania, And Deborah.

Debbie Nelson-Mathers lost two of her brothers to suicide

When Eminem’s father, Marshall Bruce Mathers II, walked out on them, his uncle Todd Nelson stepped up and took care of him. We can say that Todd was the closest thing Eminem got as a father.

Alas, at age 42, he reportedly committed suicide. The reason behind the suicide was reportedly a rottweiler. What happened was that the dog scratched Todd’s girlfriend’s car and scared her son. Because of this incident, Todd decided to kill the dog by running him over.

As a result, he was arrested by the police and his family was unable to afford the attorney’s fees. Fearing he would end up in jail, he shot himself in the backyard of his Michigan residence. His son, Todd Jr. found his body first.

Before committing suicide, Todd had once served eight years in prison. He killed his brother-in-law after an argument. According to Deborah, it was an act of self-defense by Todd.

Likewise another close uncle of Eminem, Ronnie Polkinghorn died after shooting himself in 1991. Reports at the time suggested that an argument with his girlfriend caused Ronnie to make such a drastic decision.

Ronnie and Eminem were very close. They were not uncles or cousins, but brothers and friends. He was only 2 months older than the rapper. After Ronnie’s passing, Eminem etched the “RIP Ronnie” tattoo on his upper left shoulder.

Besides, his aunt, Betti, works as a housekeeper at Eminem’s house in Clinton Township, Michigan. She lives there with her husband and children.

Deborah has been married four times

Eminem’s mother had a very difficult childhood that shaped most of her life. Like her mother, who used to only attract drunk abusive boys, Deborah has also had numerous run-ins with drunks.

She married her first husband, Marshal Bruce Mathers II on September 20, 1970. Deborah was only 15 when they got married. She took her mother’s consent and got married. At her first wedding, she wore a cream dress with a red velvet vest.

She became pregnant with her first child, Marshal Bruce Mathers III, aka Eminem January 1972, 16 months after her marriage. Unfortunately, when Eminem was a little kid, his parents divorced. Their divorce was finalized in 1975.

Deborah then tied the knot with a man named Curt Werner. After only dating him for three months, her mother Betty urged her to marry the man. In her book My son Marshall, my son Eminem, Deborah claims that the wedding with Curt was a big mistake. Their marriage was dissolved a few times later.

She exchanged vows with her third husband BJ when Eminem was 15. Her third husband was a landscape gardener. He was previously married and had children of his own. Their marriage ended after only three months.

Deborah married for the fourth time John Briggs. After their marriage, Briggs asked her to change her last name from Mathers to Briggs. She was hesitant at first, but later decided to go for Mrs. Mathers-Briggs. Later, after divorcing John, she reverted to using her maiden name Nelson. Some tabloids also claim that she was married to a man named Berger Olsen Au Gres. However, his name was never mentioned in her book.

It’s safe to say that the name we mentioned above was her husband and not someone else. For a more detailed analysis of her past marriage and relationships, we recommend purchasing her book here.

Deborah R. Nelson-Mathers has had multiple affairs

Deborah started dating Charlie after separating from Bruce Mathers. According to her, he was the first serious relationship since Bruce. Their lovey-dovey ended because of insecurities between them.

After her fight with Charlie, she dated Mafia boss, a taxi driver. Many tabloids list Don’s full name as Don DeMarc, but this cannot be verified by any source. They lived together for over a year before calling it quits.

Then she started an affair with a man named Fred Samra (Samara) Jr. He was the son of Fred Samra Sr., owner of a local meat shop. Fred Jr. was already a divorced man and so was Deborah.

Fred was good. She liked him and Eminem always called him “daddy.” In the summer of 1985, Deborah became pregnant with Fred’s child, Nathan Kane Samra (Samara) now math. She gave birth to him February 3, 1986.

They broke up due to Fred’s abusive nature.

Debbie Nelson-Mathers has six grandchildren

From her eldest son Eminem’s side, she has three granddaughters. Hailie Jade Mathers24, AlanAnd Whitney Scott Mathers. While Alaina is the daughter of DawnEminem’s ex-sister-in-law, Whitney is his ex-wife’s daughter, Kim Shot from her previous relationship.

Did you know: Deborah’s granddaughter Alaina’s mother was found dead in a car

On the other hand, her youngest son, Nathan Kane, also has three children. two boys, Liam And Carterand a daughter, Adrianna Melkonian. It should be noted that Audrianna is said to be his wife’s daughter from her previous relationship. He has been married to his wife Ashley Mathers since May 2018.

Deborah Relationship with son Eminem: Once filed a $10 million defamation lawsuit against him

In 1999, Deborah sued her own son for defaming her name The slim, shady LP. According to the documents filed with Macomb County Circuit Court, Eminem repeatedly emotionally assaulted her.

The doctors continued that she was suffering from emotional stress, loss of self-esteem, humiliation and fear. After a few hearings, Deborah decided to drop the lawsuit, while her lawyer Gibson insisted on moving forward.

In the end, she was awarded $25,000, of which about $24,000 went as attorney fees. She only took home $1,000.

Debbie Nelson-Mathers suffered from health and weight problems

From her early childhood, Deborah had a lean physique. Despite eating a lot, she never gained weight. When she was expecting Eminem, the doctor told her to put on some weight to make the delivery go as smoothly as possible.

In 2004 her life took a drastic turn. She discovered a walnut-sized lump in her breast. After the mammogram, the doctor suspected it was cancer. During that time, Deborah was in terrible financial condition. She couldn’t even afford medical insurance.

Fortunately, she discovered some time later that the doctor had misdiagnosed her and that she was not suffering from a heart attack.

Deborah has written a book

In 2008, with the help of British author Annette Witheridge, she wrote an autobiography titled ‘My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem Setting The Record Straight On My Life as Eminem’s Mother’.

The book chronicles all the intricate details of Eminem’s life long before he was a rapper. In addition, Deborah claims in the book that all the stories Eminem told about his early life are not entirely true.

Since the book’s release, thousands of copies have been sold. We especially recommend that you buy the book to learn everything about the rapper and his relationship with his mother and her numerous boyfriends.

Debbie Nelson-Mathers Net Worth

As of now, her net worth stands at $400,000. Despite facing many challenges financially before, Deborah amassed a decent amount of wealth after selling her autobiography.

On the other hand, her eldest Eminem has a net worth of $230 million.

What will Deborah R. Nelson-Mathers be doing in 2022?

Deborah has not looked back on her horrible life. She went ahead and started a taxi service in St. Joseph. Moreover, she and her son Eminem have also left the past behind. The estranged mother and son finally made amends after Eminem apologized.

On the occasion of Mother’s Day, he released a song Headlight in which he offered a sincere apology to his mother. One of the verses in the song reads, “But I’m sorry mama for ‘Cleanin’ Out My Closet’, at the time I was angry.”