Eminem Admits Prescription Drug Addiction Almost Killed Him: 'My Bottom Was Gonna Be Death'

Eminem has opened up about his addiction to prescription drugs, admitting in a new documentary that the pills he once popped in excess almost killed him.

"People tried to tell me that I had a problem," the rapper said in "How to Make Money Selling Drugs," a film described as "an indictment on the war on drugs" by the Los Angeles Times. "I would say 'Get that f***king person outta here. I'm not out there shooting heroin. I'm not f***king out there putting coke up my nose. I'm not smoking crack."

Instead, Eminem, born Marshall Mathers, explained to filmmaker Matthew Cooke that it was prescription drugs like Xanax and Valium that proved life-threatening.

"My organs were shutting down. My liver, kidneys, everything," he said of the time when he was hospitalized after a night of excessive pill-popping. "They were gonna have to put me on dialysis. They didn't think I was gonna make it. My bottom was gonna be death."

Battling his addiction was difficult, admitted the 40-year-old performer, who relapsed after his hospitalization -- but he stressed in the documentary that it wasn't impossible.

"I just couldn’t believe that anybody could be naturally happy or naturally function or be just enjoying life in general without being on something," he said, adding that his sense of responsibility to his children helped him kick the habit. "So I would say to anybody, 'It does get better.'"

This isn't the first time that Eminem has spoken candidly about his drug addiction. In 2009, he told Vibe magazine that "it's no secret I had a drug problem." That same year, he told XXL Magazine that it took him so long to recover because he "didn’t really think [he] had a problem."

As TODAY.com notes, "How to Make Money Selling Drugs," which hit theaters this week, was produced by "Entourage" star Adrian Grenier and features interviews with several celebrities including Susan Sarandon, 50 Cent and Woody Harrelson.

Watch part of Eminem's interview in "How to Make Money Selling Drugs" here:

(WARNING: Expletive language used in clip)