Synopsis

Eminem and Dr. Dre appear as opposing voices hovering over three people facing morally dangerous choices. Dre argues for restraint while Eminem's Slim Shady persona pushes each character toward crime, sexual exploitation, or revenge. The video freezes the action around them, allowing the rappers to debate the consequences in a series of darkly comic confrontations. The first two scenarios produce clear winners, but the final argument turns the debate against Dre himself, ending with the most disturbing decision of the three.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video uses a bullet-time visual effect: the action appears frozen while the camera moves around the characters. This makes Eminem and Dr. Dre look like supernatural figures interrupting ordinary moments.

• The three central characters are Eddie, who considers robbing a liquor store; Stan, who is tempted to have sex with an underage girl; and Grady, a construction worker who discovers his wife with another man.

• The video version differs from the album recording. It features a continuous backing beat and chorus, and actor Robert Culp provides a different spoken narration.

• MTV broadcast an edited version that removed the shooting at the end and replaced it with an unresolved argument between Eminem and Dre. The director's cut restores the gunshots. The edit came during the network's heightened sensitivity to violent imagery following the 1999 Columbine shooting.

• The video's deliberately provocative treatment of crime, sexual violence, and revenge helped make it one of Eminem's most controversial early clips. MuchMusic later placed it at No. 38 on its list of the 50 Most Controversial Videos.

• "Guilty Conscience" won the "Hottest Music Video" award at the 2000 Online Hip-Hop Awards and was nominated for Breakthrough Video at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards.