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

[Mac21ND]

If he did or didn't so something, not really my issue. Apple probably has far "worse" individuals doing things you'll never hear about - same with any company.

All I know is I wouldn't want to be judged by the way I acted when I was in my early 20's. That dude was clueless.

 

[bigjnyc]

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

You also probably didn't grow up in the same type of environment he did. There is no excuse for what he did but you can't really judge a man until you've walked in his shoes just saying.

 

[Mackinjosh]

So you're an ubermensch is what you're saying, right? So, because what he's done wrong is worse than what you've done wrong, he's a bastard. Is that it? If anyone has gone down a road as dark as this guy has, I think it's admirable that he's managed to come out of it and become the man he is today. I don't get the hostility.

The man he is today? LOL you gotta be a joke account. The man he is today willfully ignored that huge part of his life in the movie about himself that HE produced. He was so sorry that he nearly killed this woman that he joked about it in songs many years after the fact. He's sorry now so that blind fools will continue to buy his overpriced crap.

 

[WestonHarvey1]

If he did or didn't so something, not really my issue. Apple probably has far "worse" individuals doing things you'll never hear about - same with any company.

And I promise you if attention was brought to the past misdeeds of an anonymous rank and file Apple engineer, that person would be quickly shown the door.

 

[Mackinjosh]

You also probably didn't grow up in the same type of environment he did. There is no excuse for what he did but you can't really judge a man until you've walked in his shoes just saying.

No environment that I could have grown up in would have made beating my girlfriends OK to do. No environment in the world makes it OK to nearly kill a reporter simply for interviewing someone I didn't like.

 

[oneMadRssn]

The label "Dr." has a very clear and specific meaning: peer reviewed expertise. Do you think it's pretentious for someone to call their car theirs just because they bought it? Is Michael Jordan pretentious because he claims to have multiple championships just because he won them? Why speak down about someone with a degree just because they earned it?

Medicine isn't the only thing you can be an expert in.

You're conflating credentials and meaningless letters before or after names. I'm not talking down credentials, I'm talking down titles.

First, "Dr" does not mean peer reviewed expertise. Most MDs do not publish anything peer reviewed. Many Ph.D's publications are not peer reviewed, and just sit on a dusty shelf forever. It's easy to search J.Stor and find literally millions of articles with 0 reviewer information. I think Dr is supposed to mean someone earned a doctorate degree and wants a fancy title, but that is certainly not a requirement.

Second, no, claiming title to property is not pretentious. But calling yourself "Driver Harvey" because you happen to own a car is pretentious. Giving yourself a title based on what you own is pretty much the definition of pretentious.

Jordan doesn't give himself any titles because of his championships. Have you ever seen Jordan sign his name as "King of Basketball, Michael Jordan, 6x NBA championship, 5x NBA MVP, 14x All-Star"? That would be pretentious. Case and point: http://www.406northlane.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Return-Of-The-King.jpg

Degrees and credentials are fine, but context is important. I wouldn't talk down someone's credentials printed on their resume, hanging on their wall, or in a biography of a publication. Those are important, verifiable, and give credibility to in a situation. But Ph.D.s who insist on having the state print "Dr" on their drivers license are just being stupid, and likewise people who complain that Dr Dre doesn't have a doctorate degree.

 

[blue22]

I'll just get the obvious one out of the way:
Beats by Dre.

Beatings by Dre. Corrected that for you.

 

[bigjnyc]

No environment that I could have grown up in would have made beating my girlfriends OK to do. No environment in the world makes it OK to nearly kill a reporter simply for interviewing someone I didn't like.

I didnt say it makes it ok, I just said you can't judge because you don't know the circumstances and what he was shown during his upbringing. Of course its not ok but I'm also not going to sit here and judgemental about it.

 

[PowerBook-G5]

Dr. of what? Phd? MD? or none of the above.

BS

 

[robbyx]

Receiving forgiveness in America is easy as long as you are rich and blessed by a socially liberal megacorporation.

Josh Duggar also gave a very contrite apology. How's that working out for him?

I don't think you can compare the two. I absolutely hate this ridiculous apology culture we've created. It's embarrassing that Dre needs to apologize 25 years later for behavior that was essentially private. Obviously none of us here (I hope) condone the behavior. But why on Earth should he be required to make a public apology 25 years later? And then we have to endure moronic comments like "nothing I did approached murder" from the holier-than-thou brigade.

As for Duggar, he's a totally different story, especially in light of the Ashley Madison revelation. He is someone who was actively engaged in trying to enshrine discrimination into law, who was passing judgement on others, labeling others pedophiles, adulterers, etc. He was working with organizations pushing a radical, theocratic, anti-American agenda that spits on the very notion of a separation between church and state. He wanted to deny loving same sex couples the right to marry, while utterly debasing the institution he claimed to cherish and value. He is the worst kind of hypocrite. Should he be forgiven? That depends on what he does moving forward.

 

[unplugme71]

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

Look, people do dumb **** and make mistakes. As long as its not repeated, I will give them the benefit of doubt. I will always keep an eye open to on their behavior. However, if one comes remotely close to doing it again, you lost my respect forever.

I'm sure 90% of you have driven drunk at one point in your lives. Did you know that you could have caused an accident and killed someone? Just because you didn't "do" anything to hurt others, you still put them in risk.

Start looking at things with an open mind and you will see no one is perfect. It's easy to judge.

 

[2457282]

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.

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

I don't know Dre and I doubt anyone on this forum has any personal knowledge of his character or the circumstances surrounding those events. All I can say is that people do stupid things including killing other human beings. I have never approached killing anyone, but I do believe that people can change and improve. Again, I cannot speak to the sincerity of Dre, but the question here is when do we forgive? When has an individual recapacitated from the err of their way to once again be accepted? Macinjosh seems to be saying never. I don't agree. But I would agree that without knowing a little more, it is hard to say for sure if his leaf is turned, so Dargoth may be too optimistic. I cannot say, but the statement did sound humble and that for me is a good sign. Therefore I am more sympathetic to Dargoth.

 

[69Mustang]

You try becoming a billionaire as a convicted felon in this country. Or even holding down a menial job. Doesn't matter how sorry you are or how much you turn your life around. A very low glass ceiling is permanently fixed over your head. Dr. Dre is not typical of regular people.

Uh, Harve... becoming a billionaire as convicted felon is no harder than becoming a billionaire as a quadriplegic, priest, or circus clown. The felony isn't the impediment. It's the billion dollars that's going to be the problem. Hyperbole man, sometimes it doesn't work.

A felony conviction isn't a death sentence. Some people with felonies go on to be productive and successful. Just like some people without them go on to be unsuccessful. A felony can make someone's life harder, no doubt, but regular people deal with a felony with varying degrees of success all the time. As for Dre not being typical of regular people, neither you nor I ever claimed that to be the case. So not sure of the relevance of that statement.

 

[Erphern]

What do you feel should be done with people who make mistakes? What is and isn't acceptable for Dre to do with his life in your eyes? What would you want to know about every Apple employee to vet whether they are or are not allowed to be employed? And if you deem them not worthy, what can they do in life that you would find acceptable? I think we need your guidelines so we know how to judge everyone.

Perhaps a better question may be "Where do you draw the line?". Beatings? Rape? Murder? Genocide?

Either way, I think it'd be incredibly naive to think that Dre was hired for reasons other than his street cred, which was only enhanced by his behavior.

 

[Mackinjosh]

Look, people do dumb **** and make mistakes. As long as its not repeated, I will give them the benefit of doubt. I will always keep an eye open to on their behavior. However, if one comes remotely close to doing it again, you lost my respect forever.

I'm sure 90% of you have driven drunk at one point in your lives. Did you know that you could have caused an accident and killed someone? Just because you didn't "do" anything to hurt others, you still put them in risk.

Start looking at things with an open mind and you will see no one is perfect. It's easy to judge.

Dre's misogyny and physical abuse towards women wasn't a one time event.

 

[phillipduran]

I didnt say it makes it ok, I just said you can't judge because you don't know the circumstances and what he was shown during his upbringing. Of course its not ok but I'm also not going to sit here and judgemental about it.

No, the circumstances and upbringing do not matter. Beating people the way he did is not at all acceptable, doesn't matter who you are. There is nothing wrong at all about being judgmental on an issue like this.

Being judgmental about beatings by Dre is how we explain to everyone else that things like this are not acceptable. No ok when you're rich, famous, from the hood, a rapper, an artist. . . not ok period.

 

[phillipduran]

Look, people do dumb **** and make mistakes. As long as its not repeated, I will give them the benefit of doubt. I will always keep an eye open to on their behavior. However, if one comes remotely close to doing it again, you lost my respect forever.

I'm sure 90% of you have driven drunk at one point in your lives. Did you know that you could have caused an accident and killed someone? Just because you didn't "do" anything to hurt others, you still put them in risk.

Start looking at things with an open mind and you will see no one is perfect. It's easy to judge.

Never drive drunk. It must be something you do to think that everyone else must do it too.

Here is some judgementalism, stop driving drunk, you're going to kill someones kid.

 

[diipii]

With the recent release of the movie Straight Outta Compton detailing Dr. Dre's hip-hop group N.W.A, unsavory moments from Dre's past were unearthed as critics questioned why the movie didn't cover his abuse towards women. During the 1990s, Dr. Dre was accused of assaulting several women, including his girlfriend at the time Michel'le and television host Dee Barnes.

In response to the allegations, Dr. Dre has given a statement to The New York Times apologizing for his actions and saying he deeply regrets what he did in his youth.

Dr. Dre has been employed at Apple for the past year, following the company's acquisition of Beats Electronics and Beats Music, created by both Dre and Jimmy Iovine. Apple also gave a statement to The New York Times, supporting Dr. Dre.At Apple, Dr. Dre is working on Apple Music alongside Jimmy Iovine. Though he has no specific title, Dre has been involved with Beats 1 radio, hosting his own weekly show called "The Pharmacy" and has released two albums exclusively on Apple Music, including "Compton: A Soundtrack," the official soundtrack of the Straight Outta Compton movie, and "The Chronic," originally released in 1992.

Note: Due to the controversial nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

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

By their friends shall you know them.

 

[081440]

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

Thank you for posting this! It's disgusting to see Apple so quickly back him up. There are mistakes and there are evil actions. There is a difference. We all make youthful mistakes, very few people are violent attackers.

 

[ThisIsNotMe]

Yeah, he was so sorry about it that he allowed Eminem to make light of the Dee Barnes beatdown in one of his songs. Not buying your BS apology, Dre.

The only thing 'BS' is that this is a 'story' to begin with.

 

[gijoeinla]

I'm curious if the "payoff" of acquiring Iovine was worth the headache/backlash that hiring Dre as a result of the acquisition has caused.

Here's what I know... I live in Los Angeles. Sounds like you don't. I saw the film first at a private screening then again last weekend on Friday night with a purely public audience. At the end of the film there is reference to Apple buying Beats Music in relation to Dre.. The audience -- who applauded at the end of the film -- applauded separately and specifically about the Apple Acquisition... Clearly, Apples intention to better align itself with the American Urban Culture that has now literally grown to permeate youth culture in nearly all major international cities --was a smart move demographically. That's MY opinion. I stick by my feeling that the Beats acquisition was tactically a brilliant move -- why? because NONE of it's competitors can emulate this move -- not one. For that it's worth $3 billion. And when I heard an audience of 300 young adults --that are the demo that all of these CEM's target so intensely -- openly applaud the Beats/Apple deal -- it speaks about its impact. You may not see it, others may not get it. Clearly those who they wanted to GET IT - do.

 

[FieldingMellish]

Apple will forgive Dre the way Apple forgives China's abuses ... for the money.

Good ol' socially responsible Apple under Cook.

 

[unplugme71]

Dre's misogyny and physical abuse towards women wasn't a one time event.

And I stated that if its repeated I lose respect for that person.

 

[Agathon]

In other news, Julius "Dr J " Erving isn't a real doctor either.

Why do I get the feeling that some people in this thread have a problem with Dre's colour...

Seriously, guy grew up and became a decent citizen. Cut him a break.

 

[gijoeinla]

Apple will forgive Dre the way Apple forgives China's abuses ... for the money.

Good ol' socially responsible Apple under Cook.

Oh yes, here we go again... Apple/Cook the exploiter. Yea, your right. Apple is Foxconn's only customer etc etc etc etc etc.

Dude, or dudette -- this argument is SOOOO 4 YEARS AGO.

Go post your comments on a FOX NEWS site somewhere can you? It fits right in.