Dr. Dre Apologizes to the Women He Hurt

“Twenty-five years ago I was a young man drinking too much and in over my head with no real structure in my life. However, none of this is an excuse for what I did. I’ve been married for 19 years and every day I’m working to be a better man for my family, seeking guidance along the way. I’m doing everything I can so I never resemble that man again. I apologize to the women I’ve hurt. I deeply regret what I did and know that it has forever impacted all of our lives.” -- Dr. Dre, in a statement to the New York Times.

While Straight Outta Compton, the F. Gary Gray-directed N.W.A. biopic, has racked up over $60 million at the box office to become the most popular movie in America, the famously controversial subjects of the film haven't escaped scrutiny. Dr. Dre, an executive producer on the film who dropped his first album in 16 years in conjunction with its release, has been dogged by the same allegations of domestic abuse that have haunted him for  years. Dee Barnes, the journalist whom he famously assaulted in the early 1990s, wrote a scathing piece for Gawker; Michel'le, the mother of one of Dre's children, says she was "just a quiet girlfriend who got beat up." Dre's statement, issued today (Aug. 21), declines to itemize his transgressions or to mention any accusers by name. He is also purported to have punched the rapper Tairrie B at an after party for the 1990 Grammy Awards.

In addition to Dre's words, Apple--where Dre works as a consultant--released a statement of their own. “Dre has apologized for the mistakes he’s made in the past," the company says. "[H]e’s said that he’s not the same person that he was 25 years ago. We believe his sincerity and after working with him for a year and a half, we have every reason to believe that he has changed.”