WWE Superstar Peyton Royce was one of the many who celebrated seeing Eminem finally perform “Lose Yourself” at the Oscars on Sunday night. However, her celebratory tweet quickly made her the target of Eminem’s critics and she had a swift response for them. Royce, whose real name is Cassie McIntosh, is best known as one-half of the tag team The Ilconics with Billie Kay.
My goodness. My liking Eminem & his performance at The Oscars last night really struck a cord with some of you huh!
How your life is so deeply affected by that is funny to me pic.twitter.com/mpACGtF8Dl
— Peyton Royce (@PeytonRoyceWWE) February 10, 2020
“Eminem is the coolest,” Royce tweeted during Eminem’s performance, alongside a face-with-shades emoji.
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Royce’s tweet was quickly slammed by her followers, who brought up several of the rapper’s past controversies.
“Girl, he’s sexist and homophobic,” one person wrote.
“You just lost all respect from me,” another tweeted.
“His coolest moment was making light of the Manchester bombings. Really enjoyed that one,” another chimed in, referencing the controversial lyrics in his new song “Unaccommodating.”
“Peyton I like you but he hasn’t been since 2010,” another follower wrote.
After letting the critical tweets mount, Royce tried to shake it all off by laughing at people criticizing her.
“My goodness. My liking Eminem [and] his performance at The Oscars last night really struck a cord with some of you huh!” Royce tweeted, alongside a GIF of Ray Liotta laughing in Goodfellas. “How your life is so deeply affected by that is funny to me.”
Eminem made a surprising and somewhat puzzling appearance at the 92nd Academy Awards on Sunday night. After Lin-Manuel Miranda introduced a montage of music moments from movies, Eminem rose from the stage at the Dolby Theatre to perform “Lose Yourself.” He won an Oscar for the song back in 2002, as the song was featured in the semi-autobiographical movie 8 Mile. Eminem was not present to accept the award at the time, so he thanked the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences for inviting him back.
“Look, if you had another shot, another opportunity… Thanks for having me [The Academy],” Eminem tweeted. “Sorry it took me 18 years to get here.”
Eminem has been at the center of several controversies during his career, from using homophobic language in his songs to getting into famous feuds. His most recent controversy surrounds “Unaccommodating,” a track on his latest album, Music to be Murdered By.
“I’m contemplating yelling ‘bombs away’ on the game / Like I’m outside of an Ariana Grande concert waiting,” Eminem raps in the song.
The track appeared to be making light of the Manchester Arena bombing in May 2017, when 22 people were killed. Figgen Murray, whose son died in the attack, criticized the song as “pointless.”
“Feels like he is piggybacking on the fame of Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber and says distasteful things about other celebrities,” Murray wrote. “Not clever. Totally pointless. And before all Eminem fans pounce me, I am not interested and will not engage.”
Photo credit: MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images
