Dee Barnes shared her reaction to Straight Outta Compton with Gawker.
After watching the film, Barnes says that she did not expect either Dr. Dre’s assault of her or Dr. Dre’s alleged beatings of Michel’le, his then-girlfriend, to be depicted. They are not addressed in the film.
Barnes was assaulted by Dr. Dre at a release party in 1991. The N.W.A rapper-producer was upset over an episode of Pump It Up! where a feature on the group was followed by an interview with Ice Cube, who had left the group. Barnes sued Dr. Dre over the assault and settled the case out of court.
“The truth is too ugly for a general audience,” Barnes writes in her Gawker piece.
However, she does not give the filmmakers a pass for glossing over the events completely.
“What should have been addressed is that it occurred,” she writes. “When I was sitting there in the theater, and the movie’s timeline skipped by my attack without a glance, I was like, ‘Uhhh, what happened?’ Like many of the women that knew and worked with N.W.A, I found myself a casualty of Straight Outta Compton’s revisionist history.”
Barnes describes meeting the members of N.W.A “before they blew up” and says she came to know the rappers as brothers. She says she never saw the rappers treat women the way they rapped in the lyrics of their songs.
She continues by saying that she is not responsible for the Pump It Up! episode that upset Dr. Dre. She points out that F. Gary Gray, who directed Straight Outta Compton, was the cameraman who shot the Ice Cube interview.
“You may have noticed that Gary has been reluctant to address N.W.A’s misogyny and Dre’s attack on me in interviews,” she says. “I think a huge reason that Gary doesn’t want to address it is because then he’d have to explain his part in history. He’s obviously uncomfortable for a reason.”
Barnes says that her removal from journalism has not been by choice.
“It’s not like I haven’t tried,” she says. “I was blacklisted. Nobody wants to work with me. They don’t want to affect their relationship with Dre. I’ve been told directly and indirectly, ‘I can’t work with you.'”
Barnes remembers the last time she saw Eazy-E and says she was happy to make amends with the N.W.A rapper before he succumbed to complications due to AIDS in 1995. She believes that if Eazy-E were alive, he would have ensured the film was more accurate.
“Straight Outta Compton transforms N.W.A from the world’s most dangerous rap group to the world’s most diluted Rap group,” she says. “In Rap, authenticity matters, and gangsta rap has always pushed boundaries beyond what’s comfortable with hardcore rhymes that are supposed to present accounts of the street’s harsh realities (though N.W.A shared plenty of fantasies, as well). The biggest problem with Straight Outta Compton is that it ignores several of N.W.A’s own harsh realities. That’s not gangsta, it’s not personal, it’s just business.”
This b needs to shut the fuck up before I leave her paralyzed
and giving up half your fortune in the process. You ain’t that stupid
Right on Dee! Dre is a slimy POS who has literally beaten Black women until they out cold. Throwing women through doors and shooting at your baby mama is not excusable. That is not a mistake. That’s as much a mistake as Walter Scott shooting that guy in South Carolina. Would you call that a mistake? He now treats his White woman like a queen. He has issues with Black women, the guy has never written a love song about women, but has written songs about beating hoes , and raping them. He signs artists who also beat women until they out cold. Yet, all you immature misogynistic keyboard warriors blindly defend him and make jokes about abuse because he’s “cool” and “talented”. Pathetic. Doesn’t change the fact he’s a POS human-being. It’s easy to give away money to build a music school when you have a billion dollars. He knows it makes him look good. Anybody can make generic statements about how they were immature in their 20’s. The guy never addresses the allegations or what he’s done to change. He’s so fake and shows no sincere remorse because he’s a sociopath.
All I see in your comment is constant whining and lies. You might as well not listen to rap music if you’re so easily offended.
What’s can possibly be offensive about Aesop Rock, Fashawn, Blu, One Be Lo, Oddisee, J-Live, Brother Ali, Gift of Gab, Evidence, Blueprint, Common, Shad, Black Thought etc.? There are tonnes of emcees who don’t beat women, actually write their own lyrics and who have thought provoking things to say. I’m a b-girl. I love hip-hop, not dumbed down immature misogynistic bullshit.
You’re full of shit. I bet you be in the club twerking to some Future or Migos. You don’t want to admit it, but rap is full of offensive shit. Not just rap, but all forms of media; film, TV, literature, video games, etc. I guarantee you those rappers you named have said something offensive. Put a tampon on, insensitive bitch. You make the game look bad.
You’re talking to someone who paved the way for future generations of rappers and producers and made classic albums. You’re hating on Dre and acting like you know him personally, yet you don’t. BTW, his wife isn’t white and none of his artists beat women. What he did is a mistake and he owned up to it and admit his faults. Everyone did something stupid when they’re young, including your favorites. People can change, people grow up. And please point to the songs where he talked about raping/beating hoes.
See if you’re going to make a genuine point then fair enough, but then naming yourself “beats by Dre” and reducing it to a shitty joke does you no favours.
“Put a tampon on”? Ok, Mr. Insecure. I clearly stated I don’t listen to dumbed down immature mysognistic bullshit. You know, the kind of stuff that you find in your posts or Future songs. Reading comprehension clearly is not your forte. I think you mean sensitive, not insensitive. You probably won’t catch me at a club. If you do, probably an old school night, R and B type jam. You’re much more likely to catch me at a Blu or Fashawn concert rapping along and passing a joint around with my crew. Sorry, I don’t conform to your sterotypes. Of course offensive shit is everywhere, just look at your posts.
“Because if a bitch tries to diss me while I’m full of liquor, I smack the bitch up and shoot the nigga that’s with her. That’s the kind of nigga that you are listening to, talk to you for a minute then my dick is in you. You know every single bitch has a price to pay, up on the dicks of NWA” – Dr. Dre How thought provoking?
“I tied her to the bed, I was thinking the worst, but yo I had to let my niggas fuck her first. Loaded up the forty-fo yo, then I had to smoke the hoe” – Dr. Dre
That was way too easy. Now find me a song where any of the emcees I listed talk about themselves beating, raping and murdering women. I’ll wait. Again, I don’t support dumbed down immature mysogynistic bullshit, but I do know my hip-hop history, even the trashy wack ass gimmicky parts of that history.
You’re not fooling anyone. Those lines aren’t about beating up or raping anyone. You read too much into it. Dre’s music isn’t immature or misogynistic, you’re just a bitch who’s wrong about everything and just want to bring down a successful brother because no one wants you.
I hope you don’t listen to Eminem if you’re that easily offended. You just hate hip-hop, period. Remember the First Amendment because you’re advocating censorship. It’s all entertainment at the end of the day.
You dudes really aren’t that bright. How can someone who listens to Brother Ali, Black Thought or Blu hate hip-hop? That makes no sense. Eminem is wack, gimmicky, immature and misogynistic, why would I listen to him? Again I like real hip-hop. Like I desire an ugly ass 50 year old abusive man with countless kids from different women. Those are such desirable qualities…lol. Please, I have a man. I paid my way through school, and I am starting law school. A dumbass nigga like you wouldn’t be able to get with me, not with your misogyny, poor reading comprehension skills or your shitty ass taste in hip-hop.
Your opinion became irrelevant the moment you bashed Eminem, who is one of the greatest rappers ever. You continue to lie and troll and it’s not gonna get you anywhere. You don’t even care about those rappers you claim to like.
As a woman with self-respect why do I have to like Eminem? Just because he can rap, doesn’t mean I have to like his gimmicky and misogynistic BS. Of course he can spit, but I don’t want to listen to someone who constantly disrepects me because I am a woman. The same way I wouldn’t vote for a political candidate who dismissed the experiences of Black folks at the hands of law enforcement. That’s my right. If you want to listen to Eminem go ahead. But I’ll never consider him one of the top emcees, content matters to me, like a lot of true hip-hop heads, and I like people I can connect with and relate to. Why do you think emcees like Rapsody and Jean Grae don’t list Eminem as one of their top 5 emcees? Probably because as women who love this art form they rightly have a problem with dudes like that. Your argument became completely invald the moment you challenged me to find lyrics by Dre that were about beating and raping women. I mean one less bitch is probably one of the most disgusting trashy gimmicky songs ever! I’m still waiting on you and the other Aftermath groupie to find me lyrics by artists I like that are like that. You won’t, and if you actually did listen to them or know who they are, you would’ve instantly said “you’re right”. Most lame dudes like you probably don’t bump underground classics like Shadows on the Sun, The Best Part or Labor Days and that’s okay, there’s levels to this hip-hop shit. Some of us are more true school and others are more commercial.
You do realize Eminem does a lot of shock rap, right? He says controversial things on record to get a reaction. Plus, he has deep songs with messages like Lose Yourself, Mockingbird, Headlights, etc. He’s not gimmicky and misogynistic. Plus, how would you know Jean Grae and Rapsody’s opinions on Eminem? They probably think he’s dope. I listen to many types of rap, doesn’t matter if it’s underground or commercial, as long as it’s dope. I consider Tetsuo & Youth, To Pimp A Butterfly, Summertime 06, Twelve Reasons To Die II, etc. to be some of the best albums of the year. I know about those songs you mentioned, no need to act like an elitist hipster music snob. The problem is you try to discredit Dre for one song without looking at his albums. Like I said, it’s all entertainment at the end of the day. If you take everything you hear on record seriously, then you have issues. You might as well not watch movies and TV shows that contain violence and sexual imagery.
Raps did an interview with allhiphop like a week ago about her top 5. I don’t think she talked about Eminem, but she did explain why she would include Lauryn Hill in her top 5, despite the fact that she only has the Fugees albums and 1 solo. That was telling. Knowing her and the artists she surrounds herself with, I’m doubting that she thinks as highly of Eminem as you do. He definitely ain’t in her top 5. She has been outspoken about mysogyny in rap. Same with Jean. Those are albums I listed. Funny thing is Brother Ali has a track on Shadows of the Sun where he tells of a time where he intervened in a situation where a woman was being assualted by a man. The thing is with artists like that, I don’t have to go searching through their albums to find songs of substance, their whole entire album(s) are full of substance. I like that. The same goes with movies and books, it’s easy to find things that are full of substance. Just like you can find people who are full of substance. That’s what I like, that’s what I gravitate towards. Also those lyrics from Dr. Dre are from Findum Fuckem and Flee and One’s Less Bitch, respectively.
Why in the bloody hell would you want to hear Dre make a love song?
Just because Rapsody and Jean Grae hasn’t mentioned Eminem doesn’t mean they don’t think highly of him. Dude has been cosigned by nearly everyone in the game. You basically nitpicked two songs that aren’t even on any of Dre’s albums. You’re no better than Fox News.
My soul has body and my body has soul r.i.p. D.J. Tray-Ski
Hey im Dee Barnes no one would know of me if I didn’t get punched by Dr. Dre
Wrong.
She had a popular show on back then and if you didn’t read, she stated she was blacklisted… Dre did drop some nice change on her though so I’m sure she wasn’t tripping about never working again because someone couldn’t control their anger.
ol’ washed up thirsty ass bitches need to understand that they were nothing but a cum bucket, fuck you wanna make the movie for? Go make yo own movie and talk about yo own truth bitch. This is an NWA movie not a oh dre beat my ass movie lmao!
No one cares. Stop trying to discredit Dre, DX. No Game, Snoop, 50, Eminem without the good doc you pieces of scum. You are the ones who abused Dee Barnes, not Dre!
“Teller of Truth” – Lol
It’s cuz it was 2 and a half hours you idiot. It’s not like that moment impacted the group nor the direction it went in at any point. Dre screwed up.. but it’s impact on the story was immaterial.
Punkass chump ass muthafuckas always caping for billionaire brutes.
You broke niggas need to deal with yo mama issues.
Don’t be mad cuz your idol got his whack shit all out in the open.
We BEEN knowing this man wasn’t about shit. His punk ass wilding out on women, but didn’t shit to Suge Knight, or F. Gary Gray or the male producers who filmed the interview with Ice Cube he was so angry about, or even to Ice Cube himself. If he was so bad, why he didn’t just beat that nigga’s ass?
None of you punk muthafuckas on here talking shit trying to justify this nigga got shit to say about that. Why Dre didn’t beat down them nigga’s asses, instead of fighting some women?
This is your entire comment: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!
Yep. Dre obviously got some issues. I don’t know why people can’t separate the music from how shitty of a human being some of these people are. Everybody who been with this shit like some of us have remember when that shit went down. Hell, he even admitted to it and tries to gloss over it, so it should have been in the movie. It was kind of a big deal when it happened. I know had he kicked Tabitha Soren’s ass or some other white hoe off MTV’s ass, best believe it would have been in there, so there is no excuse why it got omitted from this.
Why put that in the movie, though? It’s about NWA, not Dr Dre.
Sometimes we give ourselves too much importance in other people’s lives. What’s important to you may not be important to him. In the vast list of events in his life he was to revisit that memory like it was as importance as other accomplishments in the individuals life. Smh.
That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. So if the person who did something doesn’t care that it happened, it’s fine?
So if I walk up and punch your mother in the face but 5 years later I don’t care about it, does it not matter any more?
Seriously, that’s some fucked logic. Smh.
I have one question I dare one of you Pro-Dre niggas to answer:
Do you think including Dr. Dre’s assault on Dee Barnes in the biopic couldve been used as a learning tool for young men on the verge of abusing a person of the opposite sex?
Better question: does anyone actually WANT to see the whole Dee Barnes shit happening on film? Another question: what purpose does showing that serve for the film as a narrative about NWA?
Anon
One, its rude to answer a question with a question.
Two, answering a question with a question is a sign of deflection.
Three, everyone who knows the history of NWA wants to see the D Barnes incident.
Four, the purpose can be used as a moment of self-reflection for Dre and an example of what not to do to resolve an issue, especially an issue concerning business.
Because what you little fucks dont understand is, Dre most likely had to pay a settlement, spend a considerable amount of time on probation, and all the aforementioned had an effect on his income. And thats one of the reasons he was almost trapped by Eazy. No matter how they painted Suge, he actually saved Dres music career.
Bottom line: Dont sugarcoat shit to make yourself look angelic.
“Dre beatin on Dee from Pump It Up/Step to the Dog and get fucked up”….Tim Dog “Fuck Compton”
Tim Dog from UltraMagnetic is the only rapper who publicly defended Dee Barnes on record. He challenged Dr.Dre and the rest of NWA to a celebrity boxing match and them pussies refused!!
Nah he didn’t show up to the match and Bumpy Knuckles clowned him for it . The same one Willie D knocked out Melly Mell . So he was indeed pussy too .
What most of you don’t know is that they (Death Row) ran up on Tim Dog when he was on tour and he totally bitched up saying that it was “just a song.”
Stop believing these rappers. Most of them aren’t as tuff as they seem on record.
In fact dudes wanted to kill Tim dog. Shock G stated there was one time where 2pac had to step in to stop dudes from killing Tim dog.
Tim Dogs greatest accomplishment was dissing compton. Literally, that’s the record he’s most known for and even then he got smashed out. Tim Dog got beside himself and thought just because he was from NY that was supposed to mean something.
At least shady gave her a shout
you dont deserve no recognition. you know you did shady. i wouldn’t of beat your ass down, but def would of slapped your ass.. these hoes aint loyal..
Dre has a history that he obviously doesn’t want any light shed on, but that history is apart of NWA’s history and the fact they did not address that is ridiculous! I wish they would’ve kept in 100 but I knew they wouldn’t.
It’s not a part of NWA’s history, though.
Dre is a woman abuser. Drake is a true role model and good person who deserves th fame unlike this scum.
Wrong, wrong, wrong, and wrong.
I’m glad this black bitch got it from Dre. Black bitches always run their mouth too much. That’s why when niggas get rich and successful, a lot of them go with non-black bitches. Leave them rats in the hood lol.
So you paid to go & see this movie just to revisit a really fucking bad moment in your life
She was hoping to see it & then get a lawsuit over who played or what part wasn’t included or scened correctly
I think that it is sad that she paid to find solace or validation in a film. Dre lied to his second grade teacher, but it wasn’t depicted… What about the nickle he didn’t put in the church basket? Move in with you life and find comfort in your own successes, not how your pain was dismissed by another.
I think dre should have found out the facts before he reacted and it’s never right to hit or assult a woman