Dr. Dre Addresses Abuse Accusations With Apology, Apple Releases Supporting Statement

[MacLC]

I hate stories like this... it brings out the self righteous (i have done no wrong) hypocrites. Seriously some of the people posting act as if they live a perfect life with no wrong.

You are being prejudicial and judgmental about other people, accusing them of being likewise. Here is where you are wrong. Dr Dre's treatment of women is a huge part of what made his celebrity status, along with anglophobic, homophobic, and antisocial behavior, and lyrics promoting such. Everything he profits from now, including his Beats deal, is built on the backs of the victims of the persona he claims.

He's basically saying "I'm sorry, that's not me anymore, but I'll continue making money off of that 'me'". Now if banned distribution of his former albums and gave his money to the families of victims of rape, murder, theft, and other crimes perpetrated personally, on his behalf, or at encouragement of his music, and came out publicly condemning violence against women, police officers, convenience store owners, homosexuals, and other groups, then sure, I would buy his apology. In the mean time, I will watch him wipe his crocodile tears with Benjamins and shake my head in confusion at those who so deliberately back this pied piper.

 

[Agathon]

You are being prejudicial and judgmental about other people, accusing them of being likewise. Here is where you are wrong. Dr Dre's treatment of women is a huge part of what made his celebrity status, along with anglophobic, homophobic, and antisocial behavior, and lyrics promoting such. Everything he profits from now, including his Beats deal, is built on the backs of the victims of the persona he claims.

Your view is absurd. You're buying into the mythology of popular music. A sure fire way to sell lots of records has always been to portray the performer as some kind of outlaw. Legions of white, English heavy metal bands made money singing about devil worship and some people were stupid enough to think that they were actually serious devil worshippers. Some hip hop artists were in fact criminals, but hip hop was their way of getting out of it and avoiding being shot (e.g. Eazy E; Jay-Z).

There's a massive gulf between wanting to feel like a criminal and actually being a criminal – lots of people want to do the former, but not the latter. A lot of art is an imaginative exploration of things that fascinate us, yet we don't actually want to do for various reasons. In most cases, the people singing about them don't actually do them. Dean Martin made a career out of portraying himself as a womanising alcoholic, but was in fact a family man who drank moderately. Similarly, most comedians actually get on quite well with their mothers in law, etc.

We've been here countless times, whether it is video games, comic books, violent TV, punk rock, heavy metal, hip hop or pornography. Every time people say that it will cause violence, but the apocalypse never arrives. A few deranged people like Charles Manson will run amok, but people don't rob convenience stores because Dr Dre convinced them it was a cool thing to do. They usually do it for money, to feed a drug habit.

He's basically saying "I'm sorry, that's not me anymore, but I'll continue making money off of that 'me'". Now if banned distribution of his former albums and gave his money to the families of victims of rape, murder, theft, and other crimes perpetrated personally, on his behalf, or at encouragement of his music, and came out publicly condemning violence against women, police officers, convenience store owners, homosexuals, and other groups, then sure, I would buy his apology. In the mean time, I will watch him wipe his crocodile tears with Benjamins and shake my head in confusion at those who so deliberately back this pied piper.

So every copy of the Iliad sold should require a percentage of the profits to go to victims of war? Absurd.

 

[itguy06]

Typical women. Bringing up stuff from 20 years ago and throw it in your face. You really think a 20 year old man is the same person when he's 40? I can tell you I'm not (and I've never had the issues Dre has). Give me a break.

Yet we criticize and ruin Paula Dean's life over some word she used years ago? When her actions show clearly that she is not that type of person?

Why is it fair to give Dre a "Free pass" for BEATING women and ruin someone's life for uttering a word?

Why do we have this double standard?

 

[dampfnudel]

Did you beat up women in your 20's?

Thankfully no.

 

[obeygiant]

I would like to apologize for Dr. Dre's domestic abuse like 20 years ago.

 

[Populism]

Why do we have this double standard?

Easy. Because with one, if you say something critical, it means you are a bigot. But say something critical about the other, you are smugly congratulated for wittiness.

 

[Renzatic]

Easy. Because with one, if you say something critical, it means you are a bigot. But say something critical about the other, you are smugly congratulated for wittiness.

Are you suggesting Dr. Dre wouldn't make a good role model for a child? How dare you offend my liberal sensibilities so!

 

[Bobby Corwen]

If you're the type of woman who was messing around and socializing with gangsters and thugs in Compton Im sure you knew what you were getting into.

The truth is these women are trying to pull a Bill Cosby on doctor Dre.

These women are slimeballs too.

That lady probably got blacklisted for being a loony just as much as anything else.

Probably was trying to act badass and provoked the violence from a frustrated struggling and emotionally underdeveloped young man fighting for a sliver of respect in a world that treated him like garbage. Back in the 90s thats what it was like fighting back, fighting for respect and not being treated less than human.

Someone who would go on to become hugely influential and talented in art and music.

The idea that its being brought up now is just an attempt to cash in and "ruin" the movie and album release.

That says more about the scumbag character of that woman than anything else.

Dr Dre is a highly revered legend. His contribution to music is immense.

The fact is he was in a living hell and can be forgiven for being emotionally underdeveloped coming from that environment.

 

[itguy06]

So now we're into excusing it all away because he "made something of himself"? Thats pretty sad, IMHO.

The facts are the facts and the fact is he beat up on some women. No excuse for that - be it your "upbringing" or how "accomplished" you are.

Sure he's probably changed - most have changed in 20 years. But why do we not excuse those that have simply used offensive terms? Why is it OK to ruin their lives for something simply said many years ago?

I wonder if Apple would have been OK if Dre would have beat some gays? Or have been homophobic? Or one of the white guys used the N word? Would they have said "it was a different time, they have changed"?

And then where's the public outcry? He supposedly beat and shot people! Or is it OK because he grew up "in Compton and we wouldn't understand"?

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

So now we're into excusing it all away because he "made something of himself"? Thats pretty sad, IMHO.

The facts are the facts and the fact is he beat up on some women. No excuse for that - be it your "upbringing" or how "accomplished" you are.

Sure he's probably changed - most have changed in 20 years. But why do we not excuse those that have simply used offensive terms? Why is it OK to ruin their lives for something simply said many years ago?

I wonder if Apple would have been OK if Dre would have beat some gays? Or have been homophobic? Or one of the white guys used the N word? Would they have said "it was a different time, they have changed"?

And then where's the public outcry? He supposedly beat and shot people! Or is it OK because he grew up "in Compton and we wouldn't understand"?

What exactly are you looking for?

 

[Bobby Corwen]

So now we're into excusing it all away because he "made something of himself"? Thats pretty sad, IMHO.

The facts are the facts and the fact is he beat up on some women. No excuse for that - be it your "upbringing" or how "accomplished" you are.

Sure he's probably changed - most have changed in 20 years. But why do we not excuse those that have simply used offensive terms? Why is it OK to ruin their lives for something simply said many years ago?

I wonder if Apple would have been OK if Dre would have beat some gays? Or have been homophobic? Or one of the white guys used the N word? Would they have said "it was a different time, they have changed"?

And then where's the public outcry? He supposedly beat and shot people! Or is it OK because he grew up "in Compton and we wouldn't understand"?

Well yeah.

If you weren't raised right, you don't act right.

Most people take for granted even their very ability to think logically. Sound critical thinking itself is a privilege that comes from being raised by parents who love you and a mother and father teaching you the ways of the world.

Stuff like that is what they are missing in the ghettos. Thats what people mean when they say there is lack of education.

Its not ABC and 123 and math and stuff, but the very ability to function in society.

So until you grow up in the ghetto, it easy to think those people are just lazy or choose to be "bad" but its so much different than when otherwise "normal" people choose to be evil or become a failure. In that world its like a whole other twilight zone and vicious cycle of existence that you can't really fault any one person specifically for.

Its not his fault, he was in fact a victim and product of the ghetto mentality and if you don't understand what people mean by that, you shouldn't judge or presume to understand the nature of that type of mindset or relate it to your own "privileged" worldview.

Check your priveledge.

 

[FieldingMellish]

Dre's got the money. Call for reparations! Subject Dre to abuse counseling! Then move onto misogyny for when the band would demand of women to "come over here, B, and suck my D"

 

[FieldingMellish]

Well yeah.

If you weren't raised right, you don't act right.

Most people take for granted even their very ability to think logically. Sound critical thinking itself is a privilege that comes from being raised by parents who love you and a mother and father teaching you the ways of the world.

Stuff like that is what they are missing in the ghettos. Thats what people mean when they say there is lack of education.

Its not ABC and 123 and math and stuff, but the very ability to function in society.

So until you grow up in the ghetto, it easy to think those people are just lazy or choose to be "bad" but its so much different than when otherwise "normal" people choose to be evil or become a failure. In that world its like a whole other twilight zone and vicious cycle of existence that you can't really fault any one person specifically for.

Its not his fault, he was in fact a victim and product of the ghetto mentality and if you don't understand what people mean by that, you shouldn't judge or presume to understand the nature of that type of mindset or relate it to your own "privileged" worldview.

Check your priveledge.

That's the same "logic" applied to terrorists.

 

[mdlooker]

Maybe Shug Knight should just apologize and move on...

Shug is going to need to have the Pope beside him along with a number of psychiatrists when he debuts his apology.

 

[Agathon]

So now we're into excusing it all away because he "made something of himself"? Thats pretty sad, IMHO.

Actually nobody has excused Dre's past behaviour, least of all Dre himself. Even he admits it was appalling. What people are objecting to is folks claiming that Dre is right now the sort of person who would do that sort of thing and thus is not fit to hold the job he does. That is absurd. Hardly anyone is the same person at 50 that they were in their early 20s.

Let's face it. There are a minority of people on this forum who can't stop complaining about the Beats deal because they don't like black people being involved with Apple because they think that it will lead to "pimp" edition iPhones and so on. The code words are all there "thug", "thug culture", etc. FFS do something about your racism.

 

[Yixian]

None of the things I'm not proud of approach attempted murder. But you go right ahead and support this idiot.

Were you born into a deprived neighbourhood filled with violence and bad influences?

I don't think these things should be taken lightly or forgiven easily but you have to accept that it's very easy to judge someone when you were raised in an environment of privilege and security. That just wasn't the case in Compton, and probably still isn't.

If you want to criticise Dre, ask him what, outside of singing about it, he and the others from Compton who are now multi-millino or billionaires, have done to change it? The status quo has not changed, making the city international culturally recognised is great, but it doesn't get to the root of any of it's problems.

But then you might want to also criticise yourself if you're living in a middle class suburb for benefitting from deprivation around the world but telling yourself you do your bit by watching the news and feeling bad about it.

 

[Edsel]

Most of us have done things we're not proud of, and apparently he's as human as the rest of us. Who would have guessed? It takes a strong man to work to overcome his problems like this. I support this guy.

That excuse is B.S.
Apple has become a fashion money machine over any form of social ethics or technical genius. There is no one in my family, or in my circle of friends, that have accomplished the savageness of "Dr" Dre. Not all humans conduct themselves as have Andre Young.
Screw Apple, I'm done.

 

[itguy06]

So until you grow up in the ghetto, it easy to think those people are just lazy or choose to be "bad" but its so much different than when otherwise "normal" people choose to be evil or become a failure. In that world its like a whole other twilight zone and vicious cycle of existence that you can't really fault any one person specifically for.

Its not his fault, he was in fact a victim and product of the ghetto mentality and if you don't understand what people mean by that, you shouldn't judge or presume to understand the nature of that type of mindset or relate it to your own "privileged" worldview.

Check your priveledge.

It has nothing to do with privilege. Nothing at all. Unless you are haying at heart we as humans are savages and violent. Which I don't think to be the case. Sure we are products of our environment but when you do bad things it makes no difference. And excusing it as being a product of your environment is pretty poor. Where does that line stop?

I also find it quite funny that companies support some that make bad decisions while letting others hang out to dry for far less offenses. The double standard in the US is appalling. We have women raping kids (http://www.people.com/article/molly-shattuck-gets-48-weekends-jail-raping-15-year-old-boy) and getting light sentences while a man does the same thing and we want his nuts cut off. The crime is the same, the victims pain is the same yet the double standard.

Forgiveness is important and something we all should do but I have a feeling had this been some white guy saying the N word or someone else saying he is against gay marriage there would be no support for them and they would be out the door.

 

[itguy06]

Actually nobody has excused Dre's past behaviour, least of all Dre himself. Even he admits it was appalling. What people are objecting to is folks claiming that Dre is right now the sort of person who would do that sort of thing and thus is not fit to hold the job he does. That is absurd. Hardly anyone is the same person at 50 that they were in their early 20s.

So in 30 years will you be so forgiving of Jared Fogle should he say he is a changed man?

Let's face it. There are a minority of people on this forum who can't stop complaining about the Beats deal because they don't like black people being involved with Apple because they think that it will lead to "pimp" edition iPhones and so on. The code words are all there "thug", "thug culture", etc. FFS do something about your racism.

I personally don't care one way or the other about the Beats deal. I thought the headphones were FUGLY when they first came out but did sound decent. I've got no opinion on the deal as it's too early to tell if it was a good thing or a bad thing.

We already have the "pimp" edition of Apple's products - they are the Gold Macbook and the Gold iPhone. IMHO the Gold iPhone looks really nice.

 

[Zombie Acorn]

i think I just read that if you are white and privileged you can't understand the reasons for Dre beating women up?

Really?

 

[dec.]

Yet we criticize and ruin Paula Dean's life over some word she used years ago? When her actions show clearly that she is not that type of person?

Why is it fair to give Dre a "Free pass" for BEATING women and ruin someone's life for uttering a word?

Why do we have this double standard?

So in your opinion, should a) Paula Deen be forgiven or b) Dr. Dre not be forgiven?

(besides the fact that obviously many have forgiven Paula Deen, some haven't, others still don't give Dr. Dre a free pass, others do... so this whole "'we'-thing" an extremely poor rhetorical construct that falls apart as soon as you have to acknowledge that there are several different opinions (source = this thread)).

 

[macMD]

Most of us have done things we're not proud of, and apparently he's as human as the rest of us. Who would have guessed? It takes a strong man to work to overcome his problems like this. I support this guy.

@ Dargoth, domestic violence is not something you brush off or solve with a PR company or a change of clothes. Its also something you don't get to simply apologize for and move on. IF he is truly sorry for his "alleged" past transgressions he should be doing PSA's about domestic violence, putting money towards helping domestic violence but he would rather just say sorry and move on. He is no better than Michael Vick and what he did to those dogs and for the NFL to allow him back on the field shows the total lack of moral values going on today.

 

[LIVEFRMNYC]

[

Your view is absurd. You're buying into the mythology of popular music. A sure fire way to sell lots of records has always been to portray the performer as some kind of outlaw. Legions of white, English heavy metal bands made money singing about devil worship and some people were stupid enough to think that they were actually serious devil worshippers. Some hip hop artists were in fact criminals, but hip hop was their way of getting out of it and avoiding being shot (e.g. Eazy E; Jay-Z).

There's a massive gulf between wanting to feel like a criminal and actually being a criminal – lots of people want to do the former, but not the latter. A lot of art is an imaginative exploration of things that fascinate us, yet we don't actually want to do for various reasons. In most cases, the people singing about them don't actually do them. Dean Martin made a career out of portraying himself as a womanising alcoholic, but was in fact a family man who drank moderately. Similarly, most comedians actually get on quite well with their mothers in law, etc.

We've been here countless times, whether it is video games, comic books, violent TV, punk rock, heavy metal, hip hop or pornography. Every time people say that it will cause violence, but the apocalypse never arrives. A few deranged people like Charles Manson will run amok, but people don't rob convenience stores because Dr Dre convinced them it was a cool thing to do. They usually do it for money, to feed a drug habit.

Exactly. Violence, Gangs, Drugs, Crime, Rape, Misogyny, Racism, and etc, all existed in excess before rap and rock where even created.

 

[citizenzen]

Yet we criticize and ruin Paula Dean's life over some word she used years ago?

Dean's racism was exposed and she was dropped by her employer. That was the Food Network's decision. Her life wasn't ruined because people posted opinions on the internet.

When her actions show clearly that she is not that type of person?

What actions clearly show the innermost thoughts in a person's mind? I'm not familiar with those kinds of actions. Are you?

Why is it fair to give Dre a "Free pass" for BEATING women and ruin someone's life for uttering a word?

He's obviously not being given a free pass, as it's being talked about—and he and Apple are receiving criticism—just as Dean and the Food Network did.

Why do we have this double standard?

Again, I'm having trouble seeing your double standard. Both Dean's and Dre's past acts are being debated in public. Dean was fired from the Food Network. Dre (as yet) hasn't been "fired" by Apple. But that is the decision of those companies, and not the people engaging in the debate. There's no double standard because each company decides for itself the relationships and ties it engages in. You can't hold Apple accountable for the decisions that the Food Network made.

 

[0098386]

There you go again... making up arguments for things I never said. There's always one of you in these threads.

What, someone who thinks someone attacking another person, then making sure they can't get any payments for it - someone who thinks that's bad? Yeah there's usually one in the thread.