The battle between Eminem and two Bravolebrities wages on.
According to legal documents obtained by AllHipHop, the Grammy-winning MC has requested a protective order in his trademark dispute with Gizelle Bryant and Robyn Dixon, stars the reality TV series The Real Housewives of Potomac. The case began earlier this year, when Eminem—legal name Marshall Mathers—opposed Bryant and Dixon’s trademark filing for “Reasonably Shady,” the name of their podcast series that launched in 2021. Em argued that the trademark would “damage” his own brand and “cause confusion” among consumers, as he’s also recognized under the “Shady” and “Slim Shady” monikers.
Bryant and Dixon hit back at Em and asked the court to dismiss the rapper’s opposition. As part of their defense, the co-hosts have remained insistent that Eminem be deposed. He filed the aforementioned protective order earlier this month in attempt to dodge an in-person deposition. Em’s legal team maintains that he has “limited knowledge of the subjects at issue,” and there are members of his team—such as his longtime manager, Paul Rosenberg—who would be better suited for a deposition.
“As a threshold matter, Applicants’ Motion to Compel is premature and procedurally improper as Applicants have yet to serve Opposer with a notice of deposition, a necessary prerequisite to taking and requesting that the Board compel a deposition,” Eminem’s lawyer argued. “Opposer’s Motion to Compel the deposition of Mathers is also premature and unwarranted because, despite Opposer’s expression that the deposition would be both duplicative and unduly burdensome given Mathers’ limited knowledge of the subjects at issue, his absence of unique knowledge of the subjects at issue and others’ superior knowledge of said issues.”
Eminem has consistently used “Shady” and “Slim Shady” since the 1990s, and trademarked “Shady” to use on merchandise.
“The marks Slim Shady and Shady have become and are an extremely valuable symbol of Mathers, his reputation and goodwill,” his opposition filing read.
Bryant and Dixon’s attorney, Andrea Evans, pushed back on the protective order request, saying it was unclear why Eminem — who owns the “Shady” trademark — is unwilling to be deposed.
“It seems obvious to us that if you file a lawsuit, you should be made available to be deposed,” Evans told People magazine. “[We would ] like to question Mathers at least about his use of the expressions Slim Shady and Shady. 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.”
