“Bad Husband” is an apology directed towards Eminem’s ex-wife, Kim Mathers. The title describes Marshall himself. This is the first track Eminem has written as an apology to Kim for the pain he’s caused her throughout his personal and public life, even though he already acknowledged Kim’s positive impact on him on “Stronger Than I Was.”

Eminem has written many songs in the past with Kim as his inspiration, although just about all of them involve Eminem inflicting some sort of violence towards her. On “Kim” he cruelly kills her, “‘97 Bonnie and Clyde” narrates how he dumps the corpse, while “Puke” is just another example in which he conveys hatred toward his ex-wife.

Kim publicly addressed her relationship with Eminem in a TV interview on ABC News' 20/20 in 2007. Here, she argues that Eminem is “an excellent father,” but she “[doesn’t] know if he was a good husband or not.”

Throughout Em’s career, he has written songs that express regret in the way he has treated others through his rhymes. Most significantly, he took out some time on his 2013 track to apologize to his mother in “Headlights” for songs such as “Cleanin' Out My Closet”.

In his December 2017 interview with David Marchese for Vulture, Em remarks on his reconciled relationship with Kim, stating “I’m not killing Kim on songs anymore–we’re good now, and she’s the mother of my daughter.”