Eminem to play despite Canadian officials' concerns

Eminem will perform as planned on Thursday night (10/26) when the Anger Management tour rolls into Toronto, Ontario, according to his label's publicist. The Canadian province's attorney general had sought to prevent the rapper from entering the country after a hate-crime complaint--based on the rapper's controversial lyrics--was filed with authorities, according to reports.

"Eminem intends on performing tonight for his fans in Toronto," Interscope Records' Dennis Dennehy told SoundSpike on Thursday afternoon (10/26). "Those who aren't fans don't need to come."

Claiming that Eminem's lyrics promote violence against women, a Canadian woman filed a hate-crime complaint with police on earlier this month in hopes of keeping the rapper off the stage, according to reports. The complaint found its way to the attorney general's office, which reportedly petitioned Canadian immigration authorities to prevent Eminem from entering the country.

"There are no grounds to deny entry to a performer who sings abhorrent lyrics,'' Kathy Wesley of Citizenship and Immigration Canada was quoted as saying in a Reuters report on Thursday.

Toronto police Detective Rob Cooper, with whom the hate-crime complaint was reportedly originally filed, told Reuters on Thursday that Eminem is "going to get into the country and he's going to do his concert. There'll be police there but they will be there for security."

The Anger Management tour began last week in New Jersey. In addition to Eminem, the trek features Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach and Xzibit.

Eminem's "The Marshall Mathers LP" was released in May. The disc sold about 1.76 copies in its first week of release, and has sold over 7 million copies to date, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. The album has been widely criticized as containing misogynistic and homophobic lyrics, and has been specifically targeted by both the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and the U.S. Senate.