Eminem is a man of many names, be it the Marshall Mathers on his birth certificate or his famous Slim Shady moniker. Sure, the word "shady" has become increasingly prevalent in the girls/gays/theys lexicon, but the rapper still feels a certain ownership of the term — who is anyone else to anoint themselves (or their boots)?
As such, he has now filed a protective order to block The Real Housewives of Potomac stars Gizelle Bryant and Robyn Dixon from using the current name of their podcast, Reasonably Shady, CBS News reports.
According to the document, Mathers is concerned that people will get confused about his involvement in the show if Bryant and Dixon continue to use the title. He previously opposed the Reasonably Shady trademark filing for the podcast, which the Housewives characters launched in 2021, prompting Bryant and Dixon to ask the court for Mathers to appear in person for a deposition.
In response, the rapper's legal team argued last February that their "premature" motion was "procedurally improper" and "unwarranted." The opposition argued that a deposition would be "unduly burdensome" given Mathers's "limited knowledge of the subjects at issue," and offered for three other people to show up to court in his place — including his longtime manager Paul Rosenberg (under whose direction the rapper filed previous "Shady" and "Slim Shady" marks) — who have "superior knowledge" on the relevant topics.
"It seems obvious to us that if you file a lawsuit, you should be made available to be deposed," Andrea Evans, attorney for Bryant and Dixon, told People, saying they would like to "question Mathers at least about his use of the expressions Slim Shady and Shady."
Evans added, "It's unclear to us that Mathers can be the owner of the trademarks and file this suit against our clients but he will not make himself available to be deposed."
As such, he has now filed a protective order to block The Real Housewives of Potomac stars Gizelle Bryant and Robyn Dixon from using the current name of their podcast, Reasonably Shady, CBS News reports.
According to the document, Mathers is concerned that people will get confused about his involvement in the show if Bryant and Dixon continue to use the title. He previously opposed the Reasonably Shady trademark filing for the podcast, which the Housewives characters launched in 2021, prompting Bryant and Dixon to ask the court for Mathers to appear in person for a deposition.
In response, the rapper's legal team argued last February that their "premature" motion was "procedurally improper" and "unwarranted." The opposition argued that a deposition would be "unduly burdensome" given Mathers's "limited knowledge of the subjects at issue," and offered for three other people to show up to court in his place — including his longtime manager Paul Rosenberg (under whose direction the rapper filed previous "Shady" and "Slim Shady" marks) — who have "superior knowledge" on the relevant topics.
"It seems obvious to us that if you file a lawsuit, you should be made available to be deposed," Andrea Evans, attorney for Bryant and Dixon, told People, saying they would like to "question Mathers at least about his use of the expressions Slim Shady and Shady."
Evans added, "It's unclear to us that Mathers can be the owner of the trademarks and file this suit against our clients but he will not make himself available to be deposed."
