Eminem’s producers suing car dealership over ‘Lose Yourself’
Eminem‘s producers, the Bass Brothers, have sued a car dealership in Michigan over the use of ‘Lose Yourself’ in a commercial, allegedly without permission. The production duo, who have worked with Em since the early days of his career, filed the lawsuit against a Ford dealership earlier this week.
Mark and Jeff Bass and their manager, Joel Martin, named LaFontaine Ford St Clair in federal court on January 27th. They’re requesting $150,000 in damages and a notice on the company’s website saying that their use of the song was illegal.
The Bass brothers and Martin are behind Eight Mile Style, LLC, a company that publishes Em’s songs. The suit claims that LaFontaine used ‘Lose Yourself‘ without authorisation in a late 2024 commercial for a limited edition Detroit Lions Ford F-150 pickup truck. It was reportedly available to watch on Facebook earlier this week but has since been removed.
In addition, the suit says that the commercial was combined with a caption that referenced the song’s lyrics. “You only get one shot to own a Special Edition Detroit Lions F-150. With only 800 produced, you only get one shot to own a Special Edition Detroit Lions 2024 PowerBoost Hybrid F-150,” the post allegedly read.
The Bass Brothers executive produced Em’s debut album, Infinite, and worked across The Slim Shady LP and The Eminem Show. ‘Lose Yourself’ appeared on the soundtrack for 8 Mile and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, becoming the first hip-hop song to win the award. It also won Best Rap Song and Best Rap Solo Performance at the Grammy Awards.
Jeff reflected on the song during an interview with Billboard in 2017. “The only thing that we noticed, honestly, is that the track felt so good,” he said. “We didn’t know why it felt so good, but it was something that felt good to us. It wasn’t until he got the script for the movie where he came up with the lyrics and everything. It just came together.”
He added, “But something about the mode of the music really touched us. We kept pulling it out of the computer every so often to revisit it, to see if it could spark anything in us. We loved the track.”