EXCLUSIVE: The Real Tin Shady — How Paranoid Eminem Holes Up in Tinfoil-Covered Mansion and Hotels… To 'Block' NSA Spies
Eminem is so paranoid about being snooped on he plasters his windows in tinfoil.
July 1 2025, Published 11:12 a.m. ET
Ultra-paranoid Eminem plasters the windows of his mansion with tinfoil – as he is convinced it blocks NSA spies from listening to his conversations, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The ex-prescription drug addict also covers his hotel windows with rolls of aluminum when on tour as he fears spooks may be tracking him around the world.
And an insider told us he believes the barmy measure stops fanatical fans from using listening devices to snoop on his movements.
Running Scared
The rapper is notoriously private and scared of intrusion.
The source said: "Even though Eminem got famous from rapping about his life, ever since he made it big he's become a notorious shut-in and recluse, aside when he's on stage.
"For two years of his life after his rapper pal Proof was shot, he barely left his house and that’s when his paranoia really took hold.
"Eminem also became scared of death threats and protests about his songs, which didn't help matters.
"He started reading up on all sorts of conspiracy theories and that's where this obsession with tinfoil comes from.
"He sticks it everywhere when the mood takes him – all over his house and on the windows of hotel suites when he's on tour because he’s convinced it stops listening devices penetrating rooms."
It was reported in 2012 the rapper travels with large rolls of aluminum foil so he could have blacked out windows that would help him sleep.
But we can reveal the real reason the Slim Shady star uses the foil as it absorbs and reflects radio waves used in listening devices.
Our source added Eminem's obsession with privacy "increased 100 per cent" when ex-CIA employee Edward Snowden leaked millions of classified NSA documents that confirmed the agency's global surveillance techniques.
It has also emerged celebrities have been on the NSA's spying hitlist – and in 2013 a host of stars including Maggie Gyllenhaal, John Cusack and Oliver Stone, appeared in a video from anti-snooping group the Electronic Frontier Foundation, called Stop Watching Us: The Video.
Haunted By Tragedy
Eminem's paranoia increased after a pal was killed.
Our source said about Eminem: "Snowden's leaks shocked Eminem and he became even more focused on his privacy after that.
"He hates putting any of his correspondence in emails and is convinced any of his electronic devices can be hacked in seconds.
Ironically, Eminem's tinfoil ploy may not be as effective as he thinks – as in 2005 a group of MIT students found aluminum could amplify certain radio waves, making it easier for radio waves to penetrate the material.
But the rapper has insisted on plastering the windows of his hotel suites with foil while on tour.
A source said: "Eminem will request extra tinfoil for his rooms at times, which totally baffles staff who have no idea he likes to use it to cover his windows.
"But he doesn't only like to use it to black out his windows as he still suffers from insomnia – he also believes it deters anyone from using listening devices outside his suite."
They added: "All Eminem does in his spare time on the road is work out, scribble lyrics, read comics, eating takeaway food and play computer games.
"It's weird Eminem thinks he needs to shut out prying eyes and ears as he’s just like a big kid in his hotel rooms anyway."
The hotel was a one-hour drive to London, where Eminem had gigs this weekend at the Twickenham Stadium in the south west of the city.
Eminem's other bizarre demands while staying at hotels have included the installation of ponds filled with koi carp fish worth a small fortune to help him relax.
His famous desire for privacy is defined by the rumour he bought a vast, 29-room mansion in Rochester Hills, Detroit, with a helipad and swimming as a decoy home to throw fans off his scent – as he chooses to reside at his smaller gated property in the city's Clinton Township, Michigan.
Pals have previously revealed the shooting of his rapper pal Proof – killed aged 32 in 2006 when he was shot three times in the head and chest during a bar brawl that has never been fully explained – made Eminem even more fixated on becoming a recluse.
One friend said after the murder: "Proof's death bothered Em a lot, and he started to get a bit paranoid and worry that he might be next."
Depression Battle
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The performer has admitted to suffering the blues over the death of his friend and suicides of relatives.
Eminem said of his depression following the killing: "I've had death in my family before – two of my uncles committed suicide – and it took chunks out of my life.
"After he passed, it was a year before I could really do anything normal again. It was tough for me to even get out of bed, let alone write a rhyme my brain was scattered."
Eminem barely ventured outdoors for more than two years and pictures emerged of him in a wheelchair, following a bout of pneumonia.
His marriage to Kim fell apart again, and his estranged mother published a muckraking memoir.
By the middle of 2008, with his career still on hold and his private life in turmoil, concerned fans feared Eminem was going down the same road as Michael Jackson.
The rapper later admitted he had "wiped out five years" and wiped out millions of brain cells and log-term memory with an addiction to prescription pills.
He said: "The pills had a lot to do with it – just wiping out brain cells. I don’t know if it sounds like I'm making excuses, but the absolute truth is a lot of my memory is gone.
"I don't know if you’ve ever taken Ambien, but it's kind of a memory-eraser. That s--- wiped out five years of my life.
"People will tell me stories, and it’s like, 'I did that?' I saw myself doing this thing on (TV network) BET recently, and I was like, ‘When was that?'"
