Dr. Dre, whose life is chronicled in the recently released movie Straight Outta Compton, has apologized to the women he has “hurt”.
The 50-year-old record producer and rapper, real name Andre Romelle Young, has not given a specific reason for the apology.
In comments published on the New York Times website Dr. Dre said: “I deeply regret what I did and know that it has forever impacted all of our lives.”
A number of women have claimed that Dr. Dre has been violent towards them in the past.
He pleaded no contest to charges of criminal battery after a journalist, Dee Barnes, accused him of attacking her in 1991.
In the last week Dee Barnes has published a story about the assault.
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Michel’le, a former girlfriend of the musician, also accuses him of violence.
In his statement, Dr. Dre said that at the start of the 1990s, he 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.”
Straight Outta Compton, which is about the early years of Dr. Dre’s rap group NWA, has been a hit at the US box office.
Critics have accused the filmmakers of shying away from mentioning what happened with Dee Barnes, or from talking about any of the other accusations of Dr. Dre being violent.
Apple has also released a statement about Dr. Dre. The tech giant became associated with him after buying the company he started, Beats, for $3 billion in 2014.
“Dre has apologized for the mistakes he’s made in the past and he’s said that he’s not the same person that he was 25 years ago,” the statement said.
“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.”
Straight Outta Compton debuted at the top of the North American box office this weekend, with takings of $56.1 million.
The NWA biopic, produced by Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, was expected to make around half that figure, having cost $29 million to make.
Exit polls showed audiences were evenly divided between genders, while 46% were African-American and 23% white.
Dr. Dre’s soundtrack, Compton, is also top of the US album charts.
The album is his first studio record in 16 years.
Ice Cube’s son, O’Shea Jackson Jr., plays his father in the movie which tells the story of the band’s rise to fame and takes its title from their debut album, released in 1988.
The other big new film release, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., took just $13.5 million over the weekend, entering the chart at number three.
“I was hoping for a little higher number, quite frankly,” said Jeff Goldstein, executive vice president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros.
The movie was directed by Guy Ritchie and stars Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer as a pair of American and Russian agents during the Cold War-era.
Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation took $17 million, falling into second spot.
Fox’s Fantastic Four fell two places with $8 million to take the fourth place spot, while The Gift was fifth with $6.5 million.
Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine are being sued by Noel Lee, a former business partner who co-designed their Beats headphone range.
Noel Lee, whose firm Monster helped launch Beats by Dr Dre in 2008, says his company was betrayed and its technology “pirated”.
He alleges he “lost millions” after Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine “improperly took control” of Beats through a “sham” transaction.
After severing ties with Monster, Beats was purchased by Apple for $3 billion.
In legal papers filed in California, Noel Lee alleges rap producer Dr Dre was barely involved in creating the headphones that carried his name.
The range quickly became a highly desirable brand with celebrities and music fans, and Dr Dre’s endorsement was key to its success.
When the company was sold to mobile phone manufacturer HTC in 2012, Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine made $100 million each, Forbes estimated.
However, Noel Lee claims the deal forced him to cut his share in the company from 5% to 1.25%. He says he then had no other option but to sell his remaining stake for $5.5 million near the end of 2013.
His legal case describes the HTC deal as “fraudulent” and “a sham” intended to shift ownership of Beats to Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine.
HTC later sold its shares back to the Beats.
Noel Lee says if he’d still had his 1.25% stake, he would have received more than $30 million in the Apple deal.
His original 5% stake would have been worth around $150 million.
A statement from Monster’s law firm Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy says that Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine “made millions off the work of Monster and Lee, while the plaintiffs lost millions”.
There’s been no response yet from Dr Dre’s lawyer – or from Beats.
It’s the second lawsuit against the company since Apple bought it last year.
The first was brought by the Bose Corporation over patented technology for cancelling noise in earphones.
That case was settled under undisclosed terms in October.
Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine are also being sued by David Hyman, who sold his music streaming service MOG to Beats in 2012.
That court case, filed shortly before the Apple deal was sealed, is taking place now in Los Angeles.
Dr Dre has topped Forbes list as the highest paid hip-hop artist, ousting Sean “Diddy” Combs from the top spot.
Dr Dre’s $620 million earnings in the last 12 months are the highest of any musician ever evaluated by Forbes magazine.
His total eclipses the mere $60 million earned by Jay-Z, 44, and Diddy, 44, who tied in second place with earnings from drinks, clothing and television deals.
In fact, Dr Dre’s takings are more than the combined income of all the other 24 names on the list.
Dr Dre has topped Forbes list as the highest paid hip-hop artist
Much of the 49-year-old’s earnings this year came thanks to the $3 billion sale to Apple of the Beats high-end headphone company he founded with music executive Jimmy Iovine and other financial ventures, including cognac and vodka brands.
Drake came in fourth with $33 million which will keep him happy, having told Forbes “if I’m not on your list, I’d be gravely disappointed” in 2013.
Seattle duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’s $32 million takes the last slot in the top five, edging out Kanye West’s $30 million.
Birdman’s $24 million, Lil Wayne’s $23 million and the $22 million wealth of Pharrell Williams place them above Eminem who earned an estimated $18 million to complete the top 10.
Nicki Minaj is the only female on the list having taken an estimated $14 million despite her departure from American Idol and lack of tour dates.
To form the list, Forbes considered income from touring, record sales, publishing, merchandise sales, endorsements and other ventures.
Dr. Dre has topped a Forbes list of the 25 highest-paid musicians in 2012.
Dr. Dre, 47, became one of the leading names in rap in the early 1990s with N.W.A. and has worked with artists including Eminem and Snoop Dogg.
The producer’s headphones business, Beats by Dre, helped him make $100 million in pre-tax earnings, according to Forbes.
The top 10 also included Take That at number five.
The group, who reformed in 2005, made $69 million earned from an eight-date tour at London’s Wembley Stadium in June and July 2011.
That also became the highest-grossing single stadium tour to date.
Last year’s highest-paid musicians, U2, finished in fourth place this year with combined earnings of $78 million from their three-year 360 tour.
Forbes puts its annual highest-paid musicians list together by estimating artists’ earnings from music sales, live shows, endorsements and merchandising.
Dr Dre has topped Forbes list of the 25 highest-paid musicians in 2012
Dr. Dre is the biggest earner in hip-hop, thanks largely to his range of headphones and audio equipment.
According to Forbes magazine’s Cash Kings 2012 list, the rapper is thought to have earned $110 million before tax, in the last 12 months.
Last year, Dr. Dre, whose real name is Andre Young, and Jimmy Iovine, chairman and founder of Beats Electronics, sold a 51% share of the company to HTC for $309 million.
The star tops the earnings list, but has not released an album since 1999.
Throughout recent years the rapper has been thought to have been working on songs for forthcoming release Detox.
According to Forbes magazine's Cash Kings 2012 list, Dr. Dre is thought to have earned $110 million before tax, in the last 12 months
The project has been delayed several times and Dr. Dre himself has announced he will be working on his Beats products instead of new material.
Other artists in the list include Diddy, who makes cash from vodka and Jay-Z who has ventures including a restaurant, basketball team and cosmetics company.
Musicians further down the list like Nicki Minaj ($15.5 million) generate earnings from endorsements and advertising, rather than just from album and single sales.
A number of Olympic swimmers are walking out to the pool wearing headphones – and keeping them on right up until the last seconds before they climb onto the blocks.
Athletes are said to favor them because they allow them to stay focused on the race in the moments before they take them off to swim and not be distracted by the crowd.
But the practice has divided opinion, with a number of people criticizing the swimmers for ignoring the fans, as the headphones block out their cheers.
Sun Yang, who went on to win a gold medal, was one of several seen wearing the “Beats by Dr. Dre” headphones at the swimming finals on Saturday night.
They are designed to block out all background noise.
A number of Olympic swimmers at London Games are walking out to the pool wearing headphones
US swimming star Michael Phelps – who has 14 Olympic gold medals – keeps his headphones firmly in place until the last minute as he stays focused.
But fans expressed dismay on Twitter, with Ella McSweeney writing: “If I was a fan who travelled to support a swimmer who then appeared with headphones on, I’d feel like being a bit quiet.”
Another wrote: “Why are these swimmers coming out wearing headphones? Take them off and soak up the atmosphere you idiots.”
But they did find some support. Spectator Mari Fotherby told the Independent: “Why shouldn’t they wear them? They train hard 364 days of the year. If they want to use music to stay calm as they get ready to race then they should.”
As well as disappointing the fans, the swimmers who wore the headphones are likely to have left Samsung, the official technology sponsor of the games, somewhat miffed.
Beats by Dre headphones are owned by one of their fiercest corporate rivals, HTC.
Last night a LOCOG spokesperson confirmed that Beats by Dre were not an official sponsor.
“It must be that the athletes just like them,” a spokesman said.
Nobody at the company Beats by Dre was available to comment on whether the headphones had been given to athletes for free.
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