In a new interview, the journalist/rapper, who accused Dre of assaulting her in 1991, criticizes the Recording Academy for giving Dre the Global Impact Award in addition to naming the award after him.
- Feb 9, 2023
AceShowbiz - Journalist and rapper Dee Barnes didn't think the Recording Academy made the right decision by honoring Dr. Dre at the 2023 Grammy Awards. In a new interview, Dee criticized the Grammys for giving Dre the Global Impact Award in addition to naming the award after him despite sexual assault allegation against him.
"Everybody wants to separate the art from the artist, and sometimes that's just not possible," Dee, who claimed that Dre assaulted her in 1991, told Rolling Stone. "Most people without a knowledge of [Dr. Dre's] history are going to say, 'Oh, he must deserve that. He must be such a great person for them to put an award in his name.' But they named this award after an abuser."
She continued, "It wasn't just a one or two-time thing; these are choices. The first time, it's maybe a mistake. The second time, okay. The third time, it's a choice. I'm not saying he is the same person now, though. I don't know. I'm not around him anymore. I haven't talked to him. But to name an award after someone with that type of history in the music industry, you might as well call it the 'Ike Turner Award.' "
Dee also weighed in on the Grammys' hip-hop tribute. While she called it "beautiful," the femcee claimed she couldn't be in the same space as Dre. "He said it himself in the documentary 'The Defiant Ones', I'm a 'blemish' on who he is as a man. Well, what do you do with a blemish? There's a whole industry created-skincare lines and vitamins and rituals-to get rid of blemishes," she continued. "And, in a sense, there's a whole network to keep me hidden."
"I shouldn't have to suffer by not being able to exist in a space and in a culture that not only did I grow up in but that I contributed to in a major way," she divulged. "Is this about his feelings? Is this about his legacy? Or is it about ego and toxic masculinity? What is it about? My whole history has been erased-as an artist, as a music journalist, and as a television host."
Dee also said that the hip-hop community didn't support her. "When I think of what atonement looks like for Dre and me, I think of a missed opportunity where we could have sat down together on camera and hashed it out," she added. "I think that would've begun a journey of healing; he's coming face to face with me, and I'm coming face to face with him," she went on to explain. "I've put out the olive branch. Black women and grace, you know how we are. It wasn't accepted."
Dee previously claimed that Dre assaulted her at a record release party in Hollywood in January 1991 after she hosted an episode of "Pump It Up!". Describing the encounter, Dee said that Dre dragged her by her hair and smashed her face into a wall. He allegedly kicked her while she was on the ground, and stomped on her fingers. In 2015, Dre issued an apology in a statement, though he didn't directly name Dee.
