If there’s anything you remember from Eminem’s infamous interview with Kirk Herbstreit and Brent Musburger during the 2013 Michigan-Notre Dame game on ESPN, it’s that Marshall Mathers definitely seemed high.
Musberger would like everyone to know that was not the case. Or so he says.
As the broadcast returned from commercial, Eminem appeared in the broadcasting booth in-between Herbstreit and Musburger and appeared to be…someplace else. For a solid 30 seconds, the rapper stared blankly ahead, seemingly unaware of where he was and the questions that Musberger was asking him. After a clip from the new music video for “Beserk” was shown, he appeared to break character and act much more normal.
While plenty of explanations were offered over the years, including the most logical one that Eminem was emulating his appearance in the music video, that kind of nuance was lost to time. Meanwhile, we remember the blank look on Eminem’s face and the worried look on Herbstreit’s face while everyone at home wondered what was going on.
Musburger stopped by The Dan Patrick Show on Wednesday before Super Bowl LVIII and was asked about the infamous encounter. The legendary broadcaster noted that he was probably in trouble heading into the segment because he didn’t even really know anything about Eminem.
Brent Musburger shares the behind the scenes story of the time @Eminem joined him and @KirkHerbstriet in the booth of ESPN's College Football coverage.
"He wasn't high."@FBLasVegas pic.twitter.com/YElx46v3Uw
— Dan Patrick Show (@dpshow) February 7, 2024
“I knew his name and that’s about it,” said Musberger, who kept referring to him as “Mathers.”
As for the assumption that Enimem was under the influence during the interview, Musberger quickly shot that down.
“He wasn’t high,” said Musberger. “Everyone thinks he was. He came in, he’s standing between Herbstreit and me and he was not familiar with the monitors, so he was looking at himself, and he kinda froze on the camera.”
When Patrick said that he thought the rapper was mocking them, Musberger disputed the notion.
“Not at all, he couldn’t have been nicer,” said the broadcaster. “And also, he was a knowledgeable fan.”
Patrick then inferred that if Eminem wasn’t high, Herbie and Brent must’ve been high instead, to which Musberger replied, “Don’t give away my secrets.”
There’s a bit of a conflicting memory of the day and why Eminem did his schtick. When Herbstreit appeared on The Dan Patrick Show two years ago, he claimed that the rapper was reenacting scenes from his “Beserk” music video.
“What a genius move by him because he had a new album coming out,” Herbstreit said. “What better way to market that than to do that prank? It got everybody talking.
“He did that berserk character just to have some fun and make people go, ‘Was he high? What’s wrong with Eminem?’ All that noise at least made people know he has a new album coming out.”
Who knew that Eminem’s viral booth appearance would end up inspiring such a Rashomon-like retelling?
