Eminem’s former stunt double Ryan Shepard has died at the age of 40

Eminem's stunt double has died at age 40 after he was hit by a truck while crossing the road.

The rapper's doppelgänger Ryan Shepard died on January 31 after he was mowed down by a pick-up truck while trying to cross Olympia Street in Kennewick, Washington state.

His brother Kyle told TMZ that Shepard was pronounced dead soon after he was rushed to hospital.

The driver of the pick-up truck was not injured and remained at the scene to talk to police after the 2:45am collision.

Shepard, who lived near the scene of the fatal accident, leaves behind two daughters, aged seven and 11.

A memorial service was held for Eminem's stunt double on February 4.

Shepard was best known for playing the rapper's superhero alter-ego, Rap Boy, at the MTV Movie Awards in 2002.

The stunt double also travelled around Europe and Japan on Eminem's Anger Management Tour and starred in D12's Purple Hills music video as Eminem's 'clone'.

More recently, Shepard worked for Elon Musk as a test automation engineer at SpaceX.

Before that, he spent years working for Disney as a ride mechanical engineer.

Shepard's memorial occurred only days before Eminem’s daughter Hailie Jade announced her engagement to Evan McClintock.

Alongside a series of pictures on Instagram, the 27-year-old captioned her post: "Casual weekend recap...2.4.23 I love you @evanmcclintock11."

The pair reportedly met while studying at Michigan State University in 2016.

As expected, the comments section was filled with quotes from her famous father - with people wondering what it must have been like to get his permission.

For his own sake, we hope he went for permission.

"Did he pass the freestyle test tho?" one person joked, as another added: "I wonder if knees were weak and his arms were heavy."

CelebrityArchaeology.com / Alamy

"Best not break your heart. That’ll be a diss track waiting to happen," someone else quipped.

"Behold the bravest man in the world," another joked.

Well, according to a MailOnline source, it seems that Slim gave the thumbs up for his daughter's relationship back in 2018.

"Marshall was just hitting the big time at the age Evan is now, making headlines for his shocking lyrics and toxic relationship with Kim," the source said.

"Evan studied economics and is a keen golfer, there's a huge difference! Hailie's family have welcomed Evan, they are a fantastic young couple who love cosy nights in, rather than hard partying."

For those unaware, Hailie - whose mother is Kimberly Scott - is now an influencer with millions of social media followers.

She also has her own YouTube podcast and Eminem fans will notice a tribute to him in the name of the show - just a little shady.

Topics: Eminem, Celebrity, News

Rachel Lang

Rachel Lang is a Digital Journalist at LADbible. During her career, she has interviewed Aussie PM Malcolm Turnbull in the lead up to the 2016 federal election, ran an editorial campaign on the war in Yemen, and reported on homelessness in the lead-up to Harry and Meghan’s wedding in Windsor. She also once wrote a yarn on the cheese and wine version of Fyre Festival.

@rlangjournalist