While some rappers like Chris Brown have earned themselves a terrible reputation for physical violence and abuse in relationships, one hugely successful name in hip-hop, Dr. Dre, was never among the abusers. Until his ex-girlfriend Michel’le spoke to The Breakfast Club about the truth of Dr. Dre’s behavior during their relationship.
According to Hip Hop DX, Michel’le was the first woman to give a firsthand account of Dr. Dre’s rumored abusive tendencies , confessing that the founder of Aftermath Records hit her many times with a closed fist.
Michel’le was asked if she and Dr. Dre ever fist fought. Michel’le responded, “Well I tried. I was losing.”
She gave a list of a few of the injuries Dr. Dre inflicted on her during their time together, including broken bones and many black eyes.
“I had five black eyes,” she said. “I have a cracked rib, I have scars that are just amazing. It was normal. Everybody that knew, it was the norm.”
The most disturbing part of Michel’le’s admission, is that others knew Dr. Dre was abusive and seemingly did nothing about it. Like many cases of domestic abuse, people on the outside rarely want to get involved, and the victims of abuse often feel powerless to stand up to their abuser.
Michel’le did admit that the first time Dr. Dre hit her, he cried about it. But Dre would continue the abuse, despite his promises not to.
“I do remember when he first hit me. When he first gave me my very first black eye, we laid in the bed and he cried. He was crying and I was crying ’cause I was in shock and hurt and in pain. I don’t know why he was crying, but he said, ‘I’m really sorry.’ I think that was the only time he ever said he was sorry. And he said, ‘I’ll never hit you in that eye again, okay?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, okay.’ And we fell asleep.”
Michel’le also admitted that she stayed with Dr. Dre for so long, and put up with the abuse because of all the money he had from his hip hop career, as well as their sex life, according to Vibe.
The singer went on to date Suge Knight after Dre. Knight, who’s now facing murder charges , and also abused Michel’le during the course of their relationship.
Watch the whole interview in the video below.
