Eminem [ tickets ]'s estranged wife Kim Mathers, in a Thursday morning (4/8) phone call to a Detroit radio station, claimed that Eminem's recent divorce filing came as a surprise to her, and alleged that continuing drug use by the rapper was a large part of the problem.

In a call to Channel 95.5's "Mojo in the Morning Show" website, Kim said, "He's having problems with, you know, his problem that he had." The interview is now streaming at the radio station's website.

Eminem [ tickets ] checked himself into rehab for a sleeping-pill addiction last summer, and Kim said the couple began having issues soon afterwards--long before they remarried in January.

"Right after he came home from his rehab, we started to have a few problems, and I thought it was going to be in our best interest to delay the wedding," Kim said. "But he really pushed it, and I thought it was really going to be something that worked this time."

Kim said she hoped--and still hopes--that she and Eminem can seek counseling and save their marriage.

"He left a month-and-a-half ago, and he comes around once a week to see the kids, and he's not himself," she said.

In a statement issued later on Thursday, Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers, responded to Kim's allegations.

"The details surrounding both my marriage and subsequent filing for divorce are private, and I had hoped to keep them that way for the sake of my family," the statement read.

"A few of Kim's statements in a radio interview need to be addressed. First, her allegations regarding my status post-rehab are both untrue and unfortunate. Second, she was aware that I was filing for divorce.

"We both tried to give our marriage another chance and quickly realized that a wedding doesn't fix the underlying problems."

Eminem filed for divorce from Kim in a Wednesday (4/5) filing in Macomb County, MI. The couple first divorced in 2001, but reconciled late last year. Their oft-stormy relationship, which began when they were teens, has been fodder for many of the rapper's songs.