Eminem has settled the civil lawsuit brought against him by the man he allegedly assaulted for kissing his then-wife Kimberly Mathers.
The rapper will pay John Guerra $100,000 minus attorney fees, an amount determined by a panel of three impartial attorneys who heard evidence from both sides in what is known as a case evaluation.
Although Eminem’s attorney, Peter Peacock, told The Macomb Daily the settlement was more than his client hoped to pay, and Guerra’s attorney, John Gaber, said it was less than his client wanted, both agreed to the sum rather than taking the case to trial. Neither party admits to liability or wrongdoing under the settlement, which was reached in Mt. Clemens, Michigan.
Guerra sued Eminem for assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress a few days after the rapper confronted him outside the Hot Rock Sports Bar and Music Cafe in Warren, Michigan, in June 2000, allegedly striking him several times in the head with an unloaded handgun.
“I truly believe he was going to kill me. He was in such a rage,” Guerra said at the time. “I actually lived through a nightmare and survived a nightmare.”
In a criminal case stemming from the same incident, Eminem pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed weapon and is currently serving probation. The rapper is serving a separate probation for brandishing the same gun earlier that day to an affiliate of the Insane Clown Posse.
The run-ins were especially high-profile, as they occurred the same week Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP debuted at the top of the Billboard albums chart, selling a record 1.76 million copies, the most for any solo act.
The Guerra incident garnered additional attention when Eminem filed for divorce from Kimberly Mathers two months later.
Guerra’s attorney told The Macomb Daily that his client’s kiss was a friendly gesture of goodbye. “It’s not like they were climbing into a back seat to make out or anything,” he said.
Eminem’s third album, The Eminem Show, is due May 28 (see “The Doc’s Diagnosis: Eminem Still Crazy”).
