Dr. Dre Apologizes for Assaulting Multiple Women: “I Deeply Regret What I Did”
Days after journalist Dee Barnes published a first-hand account of the abuse she suffered at the hands of Dr. Dre, the famed producer and current Apple consultant has issued an apology. “Twenty-five years ago I was a young man drinking too much and in over my head with no real structure in my life,” he said in a statement to the New York Times. “However, none of this is an excuse for what I did.”
Dre’s statement continued:
“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. 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.”
In addition to Barnes, the Times spoke with two other woman who said they were abused by Dr. Dre: R&B singer Michel’le and Tairrie B, a rapper who shared a label with Dre in the late 1980s. From the Times:
“I’ve been talking about my abuse for many, many years, but it has not gotten any ears until now,” said Michel’le, who was romantically involved with Dr. Dre from the late-’80s until the mid-’90s. (They have an adult son.)
During that time, she said, he was often physically abusive, hitting her with a closed fist and leaving “black eyes, a cracked rib and scars.” Michel’le said she never pressed charges because, “We don’t get that kind of education in my culture.”
Tarrie B, whose real name is Theresa Murphy, described Dr. Dre’s reaction to her song “Ruthless Bitch,” in which she detailed his “very nasty” behavior towards her while she was signed to Ruthless Records, when he first heard it in a club.
“I stood up to him, and I didn’t back down,” she told the Times. “He kept saying, ‘If you say one more word to me ...” Then, she said, “he punched me right in the mouth and again in the eye.”
Tarrie B also declined to press charges, saying, “there’s no excuse, but this was a different time.” She also said Eazy-E, the then-owner of Ruthless Records and a member of NWA with Dre, took care of her “in certain ways to be quiet.”
Apple, which last year bought Beats by Dre and employs Dr. Dre as a consultant, also released a statement to the Times: “Dre has apologized for the mistakes he’s made in the past and he’s said that he’s not the same person that he was 25 years ago. We believe his sincerity and after working with him for a year and a half, we have every reason to believe that he has changed.”
