Eminem’s Most Awkward Moments On Television

During ESPN’s Saturday Night Football halftime show at the Michigan-Notre Dame game this weekend, Eminem made a genuinely bizarre appearance on live television. Eminem was appearing on the show to ostensibly promote a snippet of his upcoming music video for his new song, "Berzerk." During his appearance and sporting a freshly dyed blond mop, Eminem appeared zoned out and visibly confused with his mouth agape while ABC commentators Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit introduced his new video.

After the snippet, Eminem snapped back to attention when he was being interviewed by Musburger, but the visual of the 74-year-old play-by-play man interviewing Eminem about his new album was notably stilted and forced. The entire spectacle was an amusing study in visible awkwardness.

This is not the first time that Marshall Mathers has been involved in an uncomfortable encounter on live television. Over the years, Em has had his run-ins with puppets, pop singers, actors and flying Austrian fashion reporters. These are five of his most famous awkward moments on television.

Eminem Taunts Mark Wahlberg Face To Face On Total Request Live

While making an early appearance on Total Request Live, Eminem is joined on stage by actor Mark Wahlberg. As Wahlberg walks onto the set, Eminem welcomes Mark sarcastically by declaring that "We should all stand together like a happy, fun bunch. A happy group," - a reference to Walhberg's past as a teenage rapper in his group, Marky Mark & The Funky Bunch. Wahlberg gets visibly pissed, mouthing the word "asshole" and staring daggers into the side of Eminem who continues to ham for the camera. We are not sure why Eminem was baiting Mark Wahlberg, but it's probably not a good idea to piss off the notoriously hotheaded actor.

Eminem Hugs Elton John On Stage At the Grammy's

In the months after the release of his sophomore album, The Marshall Mathers LP, Eminem was taking a serious amount of heat from GLAAD, a gay rights activist group, for perceived homophobia in his lyrics. In a show of artistic solidarity, a polka-dot-clad Elton John, an iconic gay pop star and performer, performed Eminem's hit single "Stan" at the 2001 Grammy Awards. Although the performance itself is one of the most iconic and memorable performances in hip-hop, it's perhaps best remembered for the clumsy embrace of Eminem and Elton John at the end of the performance.

Eminem Gets Into A Confrontation With A Puppet

At the 2002 Video Music Awards, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, a dog puppet and a staple of Late Night With Conan O'Brien, was interviewing celebrities in his trademark brand of insult comedy when he came across Eminem. Although most celebrities were game and good humored about the puppet's ribbing, Eminem was visibly upset and confrontational when Triumph approached him on camera.

Eminem Accepts An Award From Christina Aguilera During Their Feud

Moments after his brief confrontation with Triumph, Christina Aguilera appears on stage to present the award for Best Male Video at the 2002 VMA ceremony. Christina had been feuding with Eminem since he had insinuated that Aguilera had performed oral sex on Fred Durst and Carson Daly on his song, "The Real Slim Shady," in 2000. Two years later as she opened up the winner's envelope, Christina dismissively laughed and declared the decision "interesting" as she announced that Eminem was the award winner. Accepting the award, Christina appeared visibly cool as she perfunctorily handed him the award and walked away.

Brüno Falls Into Eminem's Face

Elton John wouldn't be Em's only encounter with an outlandishly dressed man at an award shows. During the 2009 MTV Movie Awards, actor Sacha Baron Cohen descended upon the audience wearing an angel's costume with a jock strap and landed on top of Eminem with his butt facing towards Eminem's face. Cohen was dressed as his flamboyant fashion reporter character from his new film, Brüno and he tumbled helplessly as Eminem swatted him away from him. The incident resulted in Eminem storming out of the awards ceremony in disgust. A few dayslater, Eminem admitted the stunt was a staged act that Cohen and himself had planned together but for viewers it looked as if Eminem had another award shows freakout.