Michel’le Lifetime Biopic Depicts An Abusive Dr. Dre
Straight Outta Compton revived the careers of N.W.A, Dr. Dre, and Ice Cube. Cube’s solo act has headlined many a festival this year, and he’s brought fellow N.W.A members DJ Yella and MC Ren along pretty much every step of the way. Dr. Dre was able to scrap Detox and start fresh with Compton. The movie was lauded for depicting the group’s brazen approach to protesting police brutality, and it was timely, releasing just as Sam Dubose became the latest entry on the list of black men killed by police. But as noted in our review of the film, there were some blaring omissions to the group members’ individual narratives.
One of those narratives was Dr. Dre’s violence against TV host Dee Barnes and R&B singer Michel’le. After the movie came out, both Barnes and Michel’le spoke out against the film, prompting Dre to officially apologize to the women he’d hurt. Barnes has detailed an incident in which Dre beat her up in a nightclub bathroom, and Michel’le has described a history of beatings during her romantic relationship with Dre. Michel’le scoffed at Dre’s apology: “I don’t really think it’s a sincere apology. I didn’t ask for a public apology and I think if he is going to apologize he should do it individually. To just group us like we are nothing and nobody — I just don’t think it’s sincere… Treat us like we have names.”
Lifetime will be sharing Michel’le’s side of the story next month in a film called Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel’le, which will be followed by an autobiography that’s in the works. In a new trailer for the TV movie, a scene of Dre getting physical with his former fiancée and mother of his children in front of N.W.A during a recording session is briefly shown. You can also see her gingerly touching a bruised cheek, which presumably came at the hands of Dre. Watch the trailer below.
Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel’le airs 10/15 at 8PM ET/7PM CT on Lifetime.