Eminem's ESPN interview: He was nervous!

Having an awkward interview is one way to promote a new album.

Rapper Eminem, whose "Marshall Mathers LP 2" is due to arrive November 5, is getting plenty of attention for the strange appearance he had on ESPN this weekend.


The Detroit artist showed up with Kirk Herbstreit and Brent Musburger during the Michigan-Notre Dame halftime show to introduce a snippet of the music video for his newest single, "Berzerk." (The song is going to be part of "Saturday Night Football's" open starting next Saturday.)

Even before the clip rolled Slim Shady looked lost and confused:


And when Musburger tried to get Em to chat about working with producer Rick Rubin, the star had a hard time snapping out of his trance. "Sorry, live TV freaks me out a little bit," he said. "What was the question?"


He was similarly tongue-tied when Herbstreit asked what he was most excited about with "MMLP2's" release. The artist deadpanned, "Nothing."

"It'll be out November 5, I'll probably be most excited to just be done with it," Eminem said. "It's called 'The Marshall Mathers LP 2,' and it's kind of a revisit to the first 'Marshall Mathers LP,' and that's probably all I can say about it."

At least he's honest. Bill Bonnell, the executive producer of ESPN's "Saturday Night Football," told Sports Illustrated that the rapper was "legitimately nervous doing a live interview," and asked the two hosts how they managed to do live TV "week after week."

But, Eminem being a performer, was also messing with the viewers a bit, Bonnell said.

"If you see the music video, it's him looking into the camera and doing a throwback to the '80s," the EP said. "You clearly saw after the video was over, he became Marshall Mathers again. He was goofing around."

And, as it turns out, Em was a little starstruck, too. Toward the end of the interview, the rapper, a die-hard Detroit Lions fan, gushed about how Musburger is a legend and on his "fantasy announcer team."

According to Bonnell, "He really likes those old-school announcers like John Madden, Al Michaels, Brent Musburger, and Pat Summerall. One of the first things [Eminem's manager] Paul Rosenberg said to me was, 'Do you think it's possible for us to get Brent Musburger's autograph for Marshall?'"

So the guy was understandably a little on edge - and he said as much when his hero complimented him on his success.

"You, my friend, are the legend," Musburger told him. Eminem's response?

"I'm really uncomfortable right now."