Dee Barnes made history in the late ’80s-90s as the first Black woman—make that first woman—to have her own music video show on a major network. Pump It Up! aired on FOX from 1989-1992, and Barnes wound up hosting some of the most iconic Hip-Hop artists of that era, including Ice Cube, Big Daddy Kane, Beastie Boys and Queen Latifah.
But Barnes’ career came to a screeching halt in 1991, when she was infamously assaulted by Dr. Dre at a Hollywood party. As Barnes described, Dr. Dre picked her up by her hair and “began slamming her head and the right side of her body repeatedly against a brick wall near the stairway.”
Dr. Dre attempted to throw her down the stairs but failed, so he began kicking her in the ribs and hands. Although she momentarily escaped, running into the women’s restroom, Dre followed her and “grabbed her from behind by the hair again and proceeded to punch her in the back of the head.”
Just watched the Ladies First doc on Netflix and I realized that even tho the public forgave Dre for this, Dee’s career never recovered. After being a victim physically, she’s punished for it. It’s simply not right that she had to lose so much💯 https://t.co/MC3fPkKUPN
— The Sage Sag 👾♐️💨 (@KVNGXMETA) May 21, 2024
Barnes filed charges and the parties eventually settled, but she was never the same—nor was her career. Over the past several years, she’s struggled to find work in the industry or keep a roof over her head. In 2019, Barnes revealed she was homeless, the news went viral and she raised thousands of dollars with a GoFundMe. But five years later, she’s still asking for help.
On Saturday (June 1), Barnes issued a plea for financial assistance to her social media accounts.
“Hello EVERYONE! I’m trying to urgently raise $3000 this weekend, my deadline is this Monday 6/3/24. If you are able to donate and share. Thank you, I really appreciate you ALL!” She then provided her various CashApp, Venmo and PayPal handles.
Dee Barnes followed up with an update on Sunday morning (June 2), writing on Twitter (X), “Still need your help please! $1,800 to get closer to the goal! THANK YOU!!”
Still need your help please!$1,800 to get closer to the goal! THANK YOU! 🙏🏾❤️🙏🏾 https://t.co/6ZZ1b0zsFE
— Sista D.Barnes👑✊🏾🔥 (@sistadbarnes) June 2, 2024
Barnes has become an advocate for domestic violence victims since the incident. Most recently, she spoke out about the surveillance footage of Diddy beating Cassie Ventura inside a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.
“Seeing that video is extremely triggering,” she tweeted on May 17. “#DrDre punched, slammed, kicked and stomped me out. #Concussion Logging TF off.”
Dr. Dre has since apologized for the incident—once in 2015 and again in the 2017 HBO series The Defiant Ones.
“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 2015. “However, none of this is an excuse for what I did.”
In an article she wrote for Gawker, she responded, “People ask me, ‘How come you’re not on TV anymore?’ and ‘How come you’re not back on television?’ It’s not like I haven’t tried. I was blacklisted. Nobody wants to work with me. They don’t want to affect their relationship with Dre.”
As for the film, Dr. Dre admitted he’ll never be able to forget what he did to her during the second episode.
“Any man that puts his hands on a female is a f##king idiot, he’s out of his f##king mind,” he said in the doc. “I was out of my f##king mind at the time, I f##ked up. I paid for it, I’m sorry for it, and I apologize for it. I have this dark cloud that follows me and it’s gonna be attached to me forever. It’s a major blemish on who I am as a man.”