Ariana Grande fans are not happy with Eminem right now.
The rapper’s new song “Unaccommodating” has been receiving a ton of backlash on social media, as the lyrics seemingly reference the 2017 terrorist attack at Ariana’s concert in Manchester, England. In the track, released on Friday, January 17, Eminem sings: “But I’m contemplating yelling ‘bombs away’ on the game / Like I’m outside of an Ariana Grande concert waiting.” To make things worse, the song samples an explosion sound effect, which many are calling disrespectful.
“Real talk, Eminem is such a piece of trash for making a punchline out of the 22 people who died in the Manchester attack,” one person wrote on Twitter. “Do us all a favor and stop making music if this is the sh*t you think is funny. I’m so mad.” Another said: “Eminem really mocked the Manchester bombing on his new album? Does he not realize that kids and teenagers lost their lives that night?”
The BBC reports that Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham is among those who are unhappy with Eminem’s lyrics; in a statement, the mayor further explained: “This is unnecessarily hurtful and deeply disrespectful to the families and all those affected.”
“Unaccommodating” is a song off of Eminem’s new album, Music To Be Murdered By, which was also released on Friday. Fans of the rapper have taken to social media to defend him, with some pointing out that the entirety of his album is actually about gun violence and mental health. Others reminded Eminem’s critics that the rapper helped raise money at the time of the Manchester attack in order to support the victims and their families.
Still, this is not the first time Eminem’s lyrics have come under scrutiny with fans calling the rapper insensitive. In fact, as noted by Bustle, the 47-year-old has rapped about the Manchester bombing before; in a 2018 freestyle, he reportedly sang: “Like a … suicide bomber that’s seeing / Ariana Grande sing her last song of the evening / And as the audience from the damn concert is leaving / Detonates the device strapped to his abdominal region / I’m not gonna finish that, for obvious reasons.” That same year, his Bonnaroo performance included gunshot sound effects, sending some concertgoers into a panic.
At the time of writing, neither Eminem nor Ariana have commented on the backlash. The rapper has been active on social promoting his new album, while Ariana recently celebrated the one-year anniversary of her hit song “7 Rings.”
