Dr. Dre on Alleged Abusive Past: 'I Deeply Regret What I Did'
"I apologize to the women I’ve hurt," the rapper and producer said.
— -- Following criticism of “Straight Outta Compton" and the film's lack of focus on the negative and sometimes physical treatment of women during the group's rise to fame in the 1990's, Dr. Dre is apologizing about his past.
“Twenty-five years ago I was a young man drinking too much and in over my head with no real structure in my life," the rapper and legendary producer, real name Andre Young, told the New York Times in a statement.
Dre, who co-produced the hit film that rose to No. 1 at the box office last weekend, continued, "However, none of this is an excuse for what I did. I’ve been married for 19 years and every day I’m working to be a better man for my family, seeking guidance along the way. I’m doing everything I can so I never resemble that man again.”
Earlier this week, Dee Barnes, who was close friends with N.W.A., Dre's former group featured in the biopic, wrote a personal essay for Gawker about the physical abuse she received at the hands of Dre in 1991.
Barnes wrote that Dre attacked her on the floor of the women’s restroom at the Po Na Na Souk nightclub in Hollywood and that "event isn’t depicted in 'Straight Outta Compton.' ... When I was sitting there in the theater, and the movie’s timeline skipped by my attack without a glance, I was like, 'Uhhh, what happened?' Like many of the women that knew and worked with N.W.A., I found myself a casualty of 'Straight Outta Compton's' revisionist history."
The Los Angeles Times reported at the time that Dre pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery for the attack on Barnes. The New York Times added he was sentenced to community service, probation and a civil suit was settled out of court with Barnes.
In the new statement to the New York Times, Dre added, “I apologize to the women I’ve hurt. I deeply regret what I did and know that it has forever impacted all of our lives.”
Barnes, along with other women like Michel’le, a singer and Dre's former girlfriend, also spoke to the Times about past abuse.
“I’ve been talking about my abuse for many, many years, but it has not gotten any ears until now,” Michel’le said, adding that she never pressed charges against the rapper.
Barnes said she connected with the other women through social media and that meeting them was "like group therapy, to heal our wounds."
Barnes, in the Gawker piece, added that Dre smashed her head against the wall and still suffers from migraines as a result of the incident. The journalist and artist added that the attack at the hand of Dre not only affected her physically but hurt her career.
“His career continued, where mine dwindled. People side with the money," Barnes told the Times.