Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow channeled his inner Slim Shady by unveiling a new hairstyle on Tuesday (July 23). The NFL star showed up to training camp with a bleach-blonde buzz cut, prompting fans to crown him the new Slim Shady.
Burrow’s name was the No. 1 trending topic on X (formerly known as Twitter) solely off his new look. The Bengals social media team played up the Eminem comparisons with “Guess who’s back?” captions on X and Instagram posts.
Fans and other social media managers couldn’t resist comparing Burrow to Eminem. Slim Shady, Slim Shiesty (a play on Burrow’s Joe Shiesty nickname) and Joe Shady cracked the Top 25 trending topics on X.
Eminem’s Slim Shady persona garnered renewed attention thanks to the release of The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce). Eminem’s latest album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It was his 11th No. 1 album of his career.
The Death of Slim Shady ended Taylor Swift’s 12-week run atop the Billboard 200. Swift’s album The Tortured Poets Department was one week away from tying a record set by Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life, which spent its first 13 weeks at No. 1 on the chart.
Eminem “killed off” Slim Shady on his new album. Some listeners disputed Slim Shady’s “death” based on their interpretations of the project. Diehard fans proposed alternative ways to listen to the album, but Eminem urged his supporters to listen to The Death of Slim Shady from beginning to end.
“Public service announcement: the ‘death of slim shady’ is a conceptual album, therefore, if you listen to songs out of order they might not make sense,” he wrote before its release. “Enjoy.”
The Death of Slim Shady featured collaborations with JID, Big Sean, Babytron, Jelly Roll, Skylar Grey, Shady Records artist Ez Mil and more. Eminem produced the album with Dr. Dre, Don Cannon and Fredwreck, among other contributors.
Eminem killed slim shady and was reincarnated as joe burrow pic.twitter.com/aUkWIW8Aph
— #ProdByWizzo (@RobMack510) July 23, 2024
I didn’t realize Slim Shady was the Bengals QB https://t.co/GtOGiDDjzc
— Antwan V. Staley (@antwanstaley) July 23, 2024
Eminem tried to kill Slim Shady but he came back as Joe Burrow https://t.co/OXRUTiRFlo
— Michael F. Florio (@MichaelFFlorio) July 23, 2024
Burrow new nickname Slim Shiesty that’s hard pic.twitter.com/9R5prEUdHN
— Wain🐝 (@JoeyBFutureMVP) July 23, 2024
WHY DOES JOE BURROW LOOK LIKE SLIM SHADY pic.twitter.com/nYQQjHbtQH
— Tervis Scoot (@tervisscoot) July 23, 2024
The Real Slim Shiesty pic.twitter.com/kcbnntUKiI
— WHO DEY est. 2000 (@dpainclain) July 23, 2024
Slim Shiesty winning us a Super Bowl this year 🐅 👑
— Kyle Porter (@UCKP23) July 23, 2024
We got the Death of Slim Shady only to get the birth of Slim Shiesty https://t.co/ud5OVbUvvx
— Walter Darko (@_modernfootball) July 23, 2024
Joe Burrow showing up to Bengals camp cosplaying as Eminem. pic.twitter.com/KdB9OklOK5
— Savage (@SavageSports_) July 23, 2024
Joe Burrow seems to be loving the new Eminem album! https://t.co/r0RDaJLsfx
— Cameron Brown (@golfer4life97) July 23, 2024