Secret Service ends Eminem probe

Eminem's track Lose Yourself has been nominated for two Grammys

The US Secret Service has said it is not going to launch an investigation into a song lyric written by Eminem.

The rapper - real name Marshall Mathers III - wrote in an unreleased song: "I don't rap for dead presidents, I'd rather see the president dead."

The service, which protects US leaders, had said it would assess whether the lyrics threatened George Bush.

Eminem recently apologised for lyrics written as a teenager which were blasted for denigrating black women.

Potential threat

The "dead president" lyric emerged when pirated copies of the song appeared on the internet.

US president George Bush on his recent visit to the UK

Secret Service spokesman John Gill said it was "concerned about communications that can be interpreted in a manner perhaps not intended by the artist".

He cited "the potential peripheral impact that such lyrics can have on other individuals".

"The Secret Service takes every potential threat against the President seriously. We don't have the luxury to do otherwise," he added.

Unfinished business

However, on Monday it emerged that the Secret Service were no longer pursuing the matter.

"The Secret Service has no current plans to open an investigation into this matter," said Mr Gill.

A spokesman for Eminem said the song was unfinished and it was unclear when and in what format it would be released.

Last month he apologised for racist lyrics written when he was a "stupid kid".

"I'd just broken up with my girlfriend, who was African-American, and I reacted like the angry, stupid kid I was," the singer said in a statement.

"I hope people will take it for the foolishness that it was, not for what somebody is trying to make it into today."