Dr. Dre isn’t backing down against the marriage counselor who is suing the rap legend, alleging a “campaign of harassment” — in fact, he’s fighting back by claiming he’s a victim of racism.
TMZ reported on Tuesday (November 5) that Dre filed a response to the suit admitting he had sent angry text messages to Dr. Charles Sophy, but never made any “credible threat” of violence.
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He also denied that he’d sent texts from a burner phone or sent fake FBI agents to visit and intimidate Sophy, both things the doctor had claimed.
Dre’s response says that Sophy claiming he’s suffering from “emotional distress” is “invoking the racist caricature that depicts Black men…as inherently violent.”
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Sophy filed a $10 million suit against Dre last month, accusing the producer of engaging in a “malicious campaign of harassment” against him after he counseled the Aftermath Entertainment founder and his former wife during their marital problems.
Sophy claims in the suit: “Rather than treating the mediation process as an opportunity for healing, [Dre] decided to take his frustrations about the mediation out on Dr. Sophy — frustrations that manifested themselves in the form of a nearly year-long sustained campaign of late-night texts, threats of intimidation and violence, and homophobic rhetoric.”
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The lawsuit seeks $10 million in damages as well as a restraining order against Dre.
According to the lawsuit, Sophy was retained by the couple in 2018 for a “joint psychotherapist-patient relationship” and he would continue counseling them throughout their divorce which was finalized in December 2021.
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Sophy claims the harassment started in February 2023 when Dr. Dre contacted him via text message saying that he had been told something “disturbing.”
The N.W.A legend allegedly followed up with the apparent threat: “You’re going to have to pay for that.”
The text messages continued with Dre accusing Sophy of convincing somebody (whose name has been redacted in the suit) to say negative things about him in the press, which the counselor denies.
Sophy says he eventually began to fear for his safety and claims that Dre sent fake FBI agents to his home, which led to the doctor wearing a bulletproof vest.
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Dr. Dre, through his attorney Howard King, hit back at the lawsuit, saying it’s a response to a complaint filed by the rap icon to the California’s Osteopathic Medical Board over Sophy’s conduct during their counseling sessions.
