Dee Barnes & Michel’le Respond to Dr. Dre’s Public Apology

Former television personality Dee Barnes and Dr. Dre’s one-time girlfriend Michel’le have responded to the rapper’s recent public apology to the women he’s hurt—an apology that saw many question its timing and sincerity.

In a new essay for Gawker titled “This Is Bigger Than Me and Bigger Than Hip-Hop”: Dee Barnes Responds to Dr. Dre’s Public Apology, Barnes also questions the timing of Dre’s apology but makes sure to applaud his apparent growth.

Read some of Barnes’ essay below.

Bravo, Andre. Humility is true self-knowledge.

I hope he meant it. I hope he represents these words in his life. I hope that after all these years, he really is a changed man.

Dr. Dre has matured, and the women he’s hurt, including myself, have endured. I’m proud to be able to say goodbye to the man who at one point was straight outta fucks to give, as he consistently dismissed and disrespected any mention of his assault history. Goodbye to the man who didn’t deny it and even bragged, “I just did it, you know. Ain’t nothing you can do now by talking about it. Besides, it ain’t no big thing–I just threw her through a door.”

Goodbye to a general public that accepted these indiscretions without so much as a second thought. When news of the apology broke, my social media feeds were immediately flooded with responses ranging from good to bad to ugly. I saw comments like, “That was the worst apology,” “Fake apology,” and, “He did not have the decency to state your names and do it face to face after all those years—that’s the least he could do.”

I understand people’s apprehension. The stakes are high now and money talks, loud. Is this is a PR move by Universal, which released Straight Outta Compton? After all, the film just crossed the $100 million mark its second weekend in theaters. Is it damage control by Apple, which can no longer ignore that if you take the “Beats by Dre” logo and remove the “S,” you get a double entendre describing several woman he just apologized to? Is Dre himself really remorseful or just saving face? To me, the answers to these questions matter less than the fact that Dre stepped up and performed his social responsibility by finally taking accountability for his actions. Who cares why he apologized? The point is that he did.

To read Barnes’ entire essay, head over to Gawker.

Unlike Barnes, Michel’le found Dre’s apology to be entirely insincere.

Speaking to Up All Night‘s Dotun Adebayo on BBC Radio 5 Live, Michel’le had the following to say about Dre’s apology:

“I don’t really think it’s a sincere apology. I didn’t ask for a public apology and I think if he is going to apologise he should do it individually. To just group us like we are nothing and nobody – I just don’t think it’s sincere, treat us like we have names. He’s selling a movie. I just think it’s good PR at the moment.”

During her interview with Adebayo, Michel’le also admitted to staying with Dre despite years of abuse because she “thought it was a form of love.” Heartbreaking.

To read more from Michel’le’s interview, click here.