Eminem is living the single life ... and he’s turning to some surprising avenues to find prospective dates.
The 45-year-old rapper, who split with wife Kimberly Mathers in 2006 for the second time, admits in a new interview with New York Magazine’s Vulture blog to having a “tough” time dating since his divorce.
“Since my divorce I’ve had a few dates and nothing’s panned out in a way that I wanted to make it public,” he said. “Dating’s just not where I’m at lately.”
Eminem went on to suggest that ― much like the rest of us ― he has used dating apps to find prospective partners. When Vulture’s David Marchese pressed him for details, the rapper responded, “Yeah, Tinder. ... And Grindr.”
The latter of course is a reference to the dating and social networking app popular among gay men, though new options for women, as well as transgender and gender non-conforming users, were unveiled last month.
In a follow-up statement, Eminem’s rep told Jezebel he wasn’t serious about swiping right for love. “I’m confirming that he was joking about using both Tinder and Grindr,” the rep said.
Plenty of celebrities have been spotted on dating apps. But the Grindr admission would have been particularly surprising for Eminem, whose music and performances have been widely interpreted as homophobic and misogynistic in the past. The rapper has repeatedly dismissed those accusations, but didn’t shy away from the subject once again in his Vulture interview.
“I’m sure people have misunderstood what I was doing,” he said. “Again, I’m not a perfect human being and I’m sure that I’ve said things that went a little too hard, but I think my actual life shows — I mean, meeting Elton John and being as good friends with him as I am, that’s not me saying, ‘Hey, I’ve got a gay friend.’ It’s me saying Elton John has my back. He’ll stick up for me.”
Read Eminem’s full interview with Vulture here.
This story has been updated with a comment from Eminem’s rep.
