The other night on the MTV Movie Awards, the rapper Eminem faced off with someone's bare behind. He also faced one of the most embarrassing experiences of his entire career. In a moment that has rocked the blogosphere, the rapper had another man's "significant body parts" pressed to his face by Sasha Baron Cohen (of Borat fame). The event captivated the entire world, and led to Eminem storming out of the show.

No one knows exactly what happened. But the stunt appears to have been choreographed, although it is not clear as to whether or not all parties were in on the joke. What is known is that there are some serious PR issues for Eminem, and major publicity implications for both MTV and Sasha Baron Cohen's new film. MTV gets a ratings bonanza. Creating the biggest TV moment of the last 10 years will have next year's audience on the edge of their seats waiting for the next shocking debacle. Cohen's movie is also going to sell a boat load of tickets. But what about Eminem? He may end up spending most of the revenue from his next album paying a therapist to help him get over the trauma of his experience.

Eminem was an easy target for this one. He is regularly accused of homophobia, and has made his career by embarrassing other celebrites. It seems only natural that someone would literally make him the butt of the biggest joke in America. But there is the deeper question: Did Eminem deserve this? Also, what does this do to the financial value of the Eminem brand on the brink of his album release?

"Eminem was humiliated in front of a large audience," said Dr. Alicia Taylor-Mclaughlin, Assistant Professor of Social Work at St. Francis University. "He was probably already quite insecure after having been out of the game for so long and having so many enemies in the celebrity world to begin with."

The truth is that these may have been hip hop chickens coming home to roost for Eminem, a man who has suffered through depression, drug addiction and has more issues than Time Magazine. There is also the "rep" factor in hip hop, laced with the hyper-masculinity that leads to tremendous intolerance for homosexuality. Getting punked by a gay character on national TV is not exactly good for your street cred.

One will never know if Eminem handled the situation correctly. He could have laughed it off and stayed for the rest of the show. At the same time, it might actually help his reputation that his body guards punched Cohen a few times and left the building. What about his album sales?

"I don't think this will hurt his album sales at all," said Tarin Donatien, a New York Publicist and founder of The Donatien Group. "But if I were his publicist, I would have released a statement by now."

To hear more of Tarin Donatien's remarks, along with Dr. Taylor-McLaughlin, please click here.

Based on what I've heard from my friends in the industry, I don't believe that Eminem was in on the joke. There isn't an actor on earth who could make his neck stretch as far as Eminem's did to get away from Sasha's bare booty. But Eminem has been begging for this moment for years, by consistently degrading the gay community, other celebrities and perhaps even himself.

If it was deliberate, there is a reason MTV chose Eminem for this stunt. Any fan of Eminem's knows that he is not a psychologically healthy human being. In fact, the talented rapper got his career started by writing a song called "Just the Two of Us," in which he kills the mother of his child and then drives with his daughter to throw her mother's body into the river. Given Eminem's psychological challenges, the brains behind the MTV move likely knew the rapper would go off and have a reaction that is TV-worthy in an age of ADD television viewers. Eminem's flow is "sick", but unfortunately, his mind appears to be sick as well. I also can't help but wonder if this was a stealth political statement being made by an ambitious MTV producer, against the backdrop of gay marriage debates. A PR beat down of America's biggest homophobe is likely to win big props in the gay community.

Eminem's brand will probably rebound from this incident, and his albums will still sell like greasy chicken at a fat farm. But the truth is that MTV should have let Eminem know what was going on, since you "just can't do a brother like that." At the same time, Eminem needs MTV more than they need him, so he is probably just going to have sit there and "take it" - no pun intended.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and author of "What if George Bush were a Black Man?" For more information, please visit www.DrBoyceWatkins.com. To listen to Dr. Alicia Taylor McLaughlin and Tarin Donatien analyze the Eminem case along with Dr. Boyce, please click here. To get Dr. Boyce articles delivered directly to your email, please click here.