Through two marriages, their volatile bouts of jealousy and revenge played out under the glare of the media. Mathers’ public struggles with cocaine kept her in and out of court and rehab. And Mathers admits to having had her own affairs. "I had low self-esteem," she said. "I just really wanted attention and love from somebody."

Mathers said she felt the most powerless in the summer of 2000, when Eminem called her a tramp in his song "Kim". The graphic and violent lyrics, which Eminem says were never intended to be taken literally, depict him pretending to kill her.

"I was embarrassed. I was humiliated. I cried," said Mathers. "This is supposed to be a man that loves me, and is supposed to protect me … from being hurt, and here he is disrespecting me in the worst way possible in front of millions of people, and in front of our kids, my family, my friends," she said. But Mathers adds there was still more revenge to come. Soon after the song’s release, she says Eminem promised her he wouldn’t perform it at a hometown concert.

"And sure enough, he decided to do that song, and not only perform the song, but use blow-up dolls to re-enact … me being choked … just [doing] disrespectful things to the blow-up doll and then [throwing] the doll into the crowd," said Mathers. "Just watching everybody else singing the words and laughing, jumping around … I couldn’t take it." Mathers says that the betrayal drove her right over the edge. "I made it home," she said, "and I went upstairs in my bathroom and I slit my wrists and ended up in the hospital."

Mathers believes she is finally free from the destructive cycle of jealousy and revenge. She’s now a suburban single mom, raising two daughters along with a niece and nephew, all the while working towards a career in interior design. "I am not trying to bash Marshall or make him look bad, [I] just, you know, want people to know, I am a person, too," said Mathers. "I am trying to move forward with my life."

Eminem provided this statement through a spokesperson: "For the sake of our children that we raise together, I have made a decision to not participate in matters such as this."