Finally, Eminem and Ex-Wife Call a Truce

Mar 27, 07:33 AM

Current Headlines: By John Masson, Detroit Free Press

Mar. 27--Maybe they lost each other's numbers.

That would explain why it took a Macomb County Circuit Court judge, a Friend of the Court referee, two lawyers, several sheriff's deputies and a gaggle of ill-mannered journalists to get rapper Eminem and two-time ex-wife Kim Mathers to talk on the phone Monday and agree to play nice in front of their daughter.

But because of concerns over censorship, the order does not keep them from publicly slagging each other, according to Mathers' attorney.

In a motion filed last week with Judge Antonio Viviano, Eminem -- whose legal name is Marshall B. Mathers III -- asked that Kim Mathers be ordered to stop publicly insulting him with jabs about his skills as a father and lover.

Her attorney, Michael J. Smith, fired back by quoting Em's violent lyrics and pointedly noting that the rapper "has made quite a living thanks to the ability to say pretty much whatever he wants."

The couple had daughter Hailie in 1996, married in 1999, divorced in 2001, then remarried and re-divorced in 2006.

After a closed-door telephone conference between the squabbling parties, Referee David T. Elias declared solemnly:

"Each parent has an affirmative duty to ensure good relations" between the child and the other parent.

In short, Kim and Em agreed that they're going to behave in front of Hailie.

"I believe the parties decided things today," Smith intoned moments after the hearing.

The reporters and photographers scribbled and clicked.

"We're very happy the court was able to bring this to a just ... resolution," said Eminem's attorney, Harvey Hauer. "We do not want this to be a media circus."

Contact JOHN MASSON at 586-469-4904 or masson@freepress.com.

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