Dr. Dre incident
After her 1990 interview with
Ice Cube in which the rapper discusses his leaving
N.W.A. at the height of their feud,
[2] the group, feeling they had been negatively portrayed, sought retaliation. On January 27, 1991 Dr. Dre encountered Barnes at a record release party in Hollywood. According to
Rolling Stone reporter Alan Light:
He 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" as his bodyguard held off the crowd with a gun. After Dre tried to throw her down the stairs and failed, he began kicking her in the ribs and hands. She escaped and ran into the women's rest room. Dre followed her and "grabbed her from behind by the hair again and proceeded to punch her in the back of the head."
[3]
N.W.A.'s
MC Ren later said "
bitch deserved it", and
Eazy-E "yeah, bitch had it coming." As Dr. Dre explained the incident, "People talk all this ****, but you know, somebody **** with me, I'm gonna **** with them. 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." Barnes sued in February 1991, telling reporter Alan Light: "They've grown up with the mentality that it's okay to hit women, especially black women. Now there's a lot of kids listening and thinking it's okay to hit women who "get out of line."
[3] In February, Barnes filed assault charges and brought a $22.75 million lawsuit against Dr. Dre, who pleaded
no contest to the assault. He was fined $2,500, placed on two years' probation, and ordered to perform 240 hours of community service and produce an anti-violence
public service announcement.
[4] The lawsuit was settled out of court.
[5]
The incident is #37 on
Spin magazine's "100 Sleaziest Moments in Rock".
[6]
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