NEW YORK, June 10 (UPI) -- A federal judge in New York ruled in favor of rapper Eminem in his lawsuit against the hip-hop magazine The Source for publishing some of his early writings.
Judge Gerard E. Lynch of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Wednesday declared The Source in contempt for failing to comply with court orders, The New York Times reported.
Shady Records, Eminem's record company, was awarded monetary damages to compensate for the magazine's decision to publish lyrics disparaging black women that the rapper wrote before becoming famous.
Lynch agreed the magazine's actions could potentially damage Eminem's credibility because he is white.
"(Eminem) is the most prominent of the handful of white hip-hop artists who have been artistically or commercially successful," Lynch wrote. "Like other white musicians who have been successful in musical genres or forms pioneered by Africans or African-Americans, from Benny Goodman to Elvis Presley to Paul Simon, (Eminem) has been accused of exploiting black culture; he in turn has asserted his respect for his black role models and peers, and has maintained that he comes by his hip-hop success honestly, as a young man from a poor urban background who has long been associated with African-American friends, neighbors and mentors."
