Dee Barnes Addresses ‘Straight Outta Compton’ Leaving Out Abuse By Dr. Dre

“DRE SHOULD HAVE OWNED UP TO WHAT HE DID TO ME… THAT’S REALITY RAP”

(AllHipHop News) While Straight Outta Compton has been receiving mostly praise, the N.W.A biopic faced some criticism for omitting accusations Dr. Dre abused women. One of the alleged victims of the producer’s wrath is former TV personality Dee Barnes. She finally addressed the movie in an article for Gawker.

[ALSO READ: Chuck D Talks Black Lives Matter Movement, Modern Hip Hop & Dr. Dre Allegedly Assaulting Dee Barnes]

The Dre-Barnes incident supposedly took place at a 1991 album release party. Dre was said to be upset about a segment that ran on Barnes’ show Pump It Up! He later pleaded no contest to assault charges, and they settled a civil suit out of court.

Barnes watched Straight Outta Compton, and then wrote in part:

That event isn’t depicted in Straight Outta Compton, but I don’t think it should have been, either. The truth is too ugly for a general audience. I didn’t want to see a depiction of me getting beat up, just like I didn’t want to see a depiction of Dre beating up Michel’le, his one-time girlfriend who recently summed up their relationship this way: “I was just a quiet girlfriend who got beat on and told to sit down and shut up.”

But what should have been addressed is that it occurred. 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.

Death Row singer Michel’le recently spoke about her turbulent relationship with Dre on VladTV. She stated she was happy she wasn’t in the movie, but added, “I mean ’cause if they start from where they start from I was just a quiet girlfriend who got beat up and told to sit down and shut up.”

Dre spoke about his past domestic violence issues with Rolling Stone. The Aftermath boss did acknowledge some things did happen, but he claimed other accusations were false.

“I made some f*cking horrible mistakes in my life,” said Dre. “I was young, f*cking stupid. I would say all the allegations aren’t true – some of them are. Those are some of the things that I would like to take back. It was really f*cked up. But I paid for those mistakes, and there’s no way in hell that I will ever make another mistake like that again.”

Barnes also wrote:

Dre, who executive produced the movie along with his former groupmate Ice Cube, should have owned up to the time he punched his labelmate Tairrie B twice at a Grammys party in 1990. He should have owned up to the black eyes and scars he gave to his collaborator Michel’le. And he should have owned up to what he did to me. That’s reality. That’s reality rap.

Read Dee Barnes’ full essay at Gawker.

[ALSO READ: Dr. Dre Addresses Past Abuse Allegations And His Social Anxiety]