Eminem is still embarrassed about his MTV Video Music Awards showdown with a puppet and wishes he had handled the surprise comedy attack better.The rapper was unprepared and a little baffled when Triumph The Insult Comic Dog and his handler decided to have a little fun with him at the 2002 prize-giving.In an extract from his upcoming autobiography The Way I Am, published in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine, the rap star writes, "I'd been so busy touring and doing my own s**t, that I hadn't had time to watch TV, so I had no idea what that dog was."Triumph - a regular on Conan O'Brien's late-night U.S. chat show - was 'co-presenting' the awards show, poking fun at stars with outrageous comedy routines.When the puppet and his handler cracked jokes about Eminem's feud with Moby, the rapper lost his cool.He recalls, "All I saw was Moby... and this dude who's sticking his hand in my face, trying to be funny. I didn't even see the puppet."My natural reaction was 'Get the f**k out of my face...' And that's when I kind of lost it and a half. I should have kept my composure."

The rapper was so incensed by the incident, he claimed an award from presenter Christina Aguilera, went backstage and hurled a drinks container at the wall.

He adds, "I threw a fit. There was a cooler with drinks in it, and I asked if anybody wanted to grab a water or something. Nobody did. So I picked up the cooler and threw it against the wall and kind of f**ked up the whole room."

In hindsight, he now realises how silly the whole incident was: "What I actually got mad about was the most ridiculous thing in the world. A puppet."

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