Eminem's fans have rallied around the rapper after he sparked backlash for referencing the 2017 Manchester terror attack at Ariana Grande's concert in his new music.
The singer, 47, caused controversy with the lyrics 'But I'm contemplating yelling "bombs away" on the game, like I'm outside of an Ariana Grande concert waiting,' in his track Unaccommodating.
And while Eminem, real name Marshall Bruce Mathers, caused fury, others have pointed out on Twitter he helped raise nearly £2 million for victims of the attack.
After the attack took place on May 22, 2017, the rapper used his platform to share a share a link to the Manchester Evening News' Just Giving and Red Cross appeal.
'Join me in helping Manchester victims & their families,' Eminem wrote, with the tweet being shared 23,000 times.
Manchester City Council thanked Eminem for his support.
And after the US rapper released a surprise album on Friday titled Music To Be Murdered By, fans rushed to defend his reference to the terror attack.
One wrote on Twitter: 'Say what you want about @Eminem and his Ariana Grande line referencing the Manchester attacks, but: 1) people forget he helped the fundraiser, 2) he sure got you talking about gun violence and attacks on civilians and any (lack of) measures'.
Another added: 'They’re lyrics. He helped to raise almost 2 million for the victims of the Manchester attacks pretty sure he’s not condoning terrorism.'
'He after all helped raise 2 million pounds for the victims. But you dont see anyone saying that. All you see is people bashing him,' a third chimed.
A fourth added: 'For people mad at Eminem referencing the Ariana Grande concert bombing: these are merely lyrics. He raised $2 million for the victims, which is way more than you did.'
The reference has also led to a backlash on social media, with many claiming the song is disrespectful towards the victims, many of whom were teenage girls.
One fan wrote: 'Eminem literally just used a horrific terrorist attack that killed 22 innocent adults/children for a punchline in a song. I am disgusted.'
Another said: 'This is so messed up! Many people (mostly children) were injured at this concert and some lost their lives, and he thinks it's OK to put this lyric in a song?
'@Eminem maybe try and have a little respect, and don't use a terrorist attack to gain clout.'
It isn't the first time the rapper has mentioned the terror attack, referencing it in a 11-minute freestyle titled Kick-Off.
In it, he says: 'Squashed in-between a brainwashing machine/Like an Islamic regime, a jihadist extreme radical/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.'
The Detroit rapper also released a new music video for one of the 20 tracks, Darkness, which depicts a shooting at a concert.
The video specifically alludes to the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead, making it the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history
It closes with audio and video footage of news broadcasts from other recent mass shooting around the US and an appeal to register to vote.
'When will this end? When enough people care,' reads the text at the end of the video. 'Register to vote at vote.gov. Make your voice heard and help change gun laws in America.'
