Eminem has launched legal action against the Australian beach brand Swim Shady, alleging its name is too close to that of his trademarked alter ego, Slim Shady. The 53-year-old rapper, real name Marshall B Mathers III, filed a petition to cancel Swim Shady’s US trademark days after it was granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office in September.
The petition argues that Swim Shady’s name could cause confusion and falsely suggests a link to the Sydney-based company, which sells sun-protection umbrellas, swim bags, towels and shorts. Eminem also claims his trademark in Australia has been infringed by Swim Shady, which launched in Australia in December 2023. His legal team lodged an opposition to the company’s Australian trademark in October 2024.
Swim Shady’s owner, Jeremy Scott, confirmed the legal action and said the company will fight the claims. “Swim Shady is a grassroots Australian company that was born … to protect people from the harsh Australian sun,” Scott said in a joint statement with his partner, Elizabeth Afrakoff. “Given the matters are before the court, we do not propose to say any more at this time.”
Before Swim Shady launched, Eminem held Australian trademarks on Shady and Shady Limited but not Slim Shady. He subsequently filed a trademark for Slim Shady in Australia in January 2025. Swim Shady has since filed non-use applications against Eminem’s Shady and Shady Limited trademarks, arguing they have not been consistently used.
Eminem is also currently fighting the hosts of the Reasonably Shady podcast, Gizelle Bryant and Robyn Dixon, alleging trademark infringement in a case ongoing since 2023. He previously won NZ$600,000 (then AU$535,000/£315,000) in 2017 after New Zealand’s high court ruled the National Party infringed his copyright in a 2014 election advertisement that used strains of his hit Lose Yourself.
This is not the first time a US rapper has taken legal action against an Australian business. In 2022, Kanye West sued Melbourne burger shop College Dropout Burgers, but the case was thrown out in 2023 after West and his legal team failed to appear. In 2019, Jay-Z sued Australian company The Little Homie over a picture book titled AB to Jay-Z, settling after mediation.
