Dee Barnes sat down with Wendy Williams on Thursday (April 18) for an episode of The Wendy Williams Show to discuss her housing plight, the derailing of her Hip Hop journalism career and what exactly happened the night Dr. Dre viciously attacked her at a Hollywood industry party in 1991.
During their conversation, Williams pressed the former Pump It Up! host for all the sordid details.
“I run into the women’s restroom,” she explained around the 9:45-minute mark. “He follows me into the women’s restroom.”
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Williams asked what happened in the restroom, but Barnes pumped the brakes when asked if she was sexually assaulted. Barnes became temporarily frozen with emotion and couldn’t immediately respond. The empathetic host urged her to “tell your story.”
Barnes went on, “He continued to assault me in the women’s restroom.” Williams injected with, “Did he sexually assault you?” but Barnes replied, “I’m not comfortable talking about everything right now” with tears in her eyes.
Although Barnes’ silence spoke volumes (as Williams also pointed out), she didn’t exactly affirm a sexual assault occurred.
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“I did not confirm nor deny,” she tells HipHopDX. “The book will explain.”
Barnes has been working on a book about her life tentatively titled Music, Myth and Misogyny: Memoirs Of A Female MC. Toward the end of Barnes’ segment, Williams offered to publish her book as well as help make a movie about her story.
She also threw in another $15,000 along with Hotels.com to help her out of her precarious situation.
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Barnes credited the DX story on her GoFundMe page and The Wendy Williams Show for getting the word out. The music community and beyond truly rose to the occasion and took her campaign from roughly $3,000 to over $30,000 in a matter of a few days.
Chuck D, actress Ellen Barkin, comedian Sinbad, actor Jon Cryer and Ferrari Sheppard were just a few of those rallying around Barnes. The story was picked up by numerous publications — from People Magazine to Essence — and celebrities such as Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, Mike D’s wife Tamra Davis, Green Book actor Mahershala Ali and MC Serch donated to the cause.
Check out some of the reactions below.
THIS cannot HAPPEN. ALL the HIPHOP moneyfolk support stand up. . Dee Barnes Needs Hip Hop's Help: "I Am Officially Homeless" | HipHopDX https://t.co/tUEzfVamfQ
— Chuck D (@MrChuckD) March 26, 2019
“anytime a woman tells her account of abuse by a public figure, there will be intense backlash”
Pioneering Hip-Hop Journalist Dee Barnes Is Now Homeless https://t.co/sT6jlVuR1i
— Ellen Barkin (@EllenBarkin) March 26, 2019
Dee Barnes brought Hip Hop to a lot of doofy white boys like myself. We can help too, @sistadbarneshttps://t.co/tWoQG6r6RA
— Jon Cryer (@MrJonCryer) March 26, 2019
Pioneer Hip-Hop Journalist Dee Barnes Is Now Homeless https://t.co/7e7Iq9G3aQ
— Sinbad (@sinbadbad) March 26, 2019
Thank you @kyleeustice and @HipHopDX for your support
I am profoundly grateful. https://t.co/eV1ggUwP6V— Sista Dee Barnes✊? (@sistadbarnes) March 26, 2019
while dr. dre posts about getting his daughter into a college he donated large sums of money to, let's not forget he attacked a journalist who is now homeless. please help out dee barnes! https://t.co/WZCDHbykr7
— Harley Brown (@harleyoliverb) March 26, 2019
