Dee Barnes became a staple in the culture as the first female hip-hop journalist to have a television show with “Pump in Up” in 1989. But she found notoriety in 1991 when Dr. Dre brutally attacked her during a Hollywood record release party.
Barnes filed criminal charges against the music mogul and hit him with a civil suit. They ultimately settled out of court in 1993.
Now she’s back in the headlines after being evicted from her home and has turned to the public for support.
Thank you to everyone for your prayers, your support, your messages, phone calls, and positive vibrations, I am profoundly grateful to you all❤💛💚#CountYourBlessings https://t.co/tQLChQpGW9
— Sista Dee Barnes✊🏾 (@sistadbarnes) March 15, 2019
In a new interview with HipHopDx, Barnes revealed she’s now homeless.
“I had never asked for public help before, but I then remembered a long time ago while I was going through the assault trial in 1991 people were sending me checks for my legal fees. I never cashed any of them — not one — but knowing I had that support kept me strong enough to continue to face each court date,” she said.
She continued, “right now, I am officially homeless. My goal with the campaign is to regain stability, which is imperative for survivors of any trauma.”
As noted by okayplayer.com, after being physically attacked by Dre back in the day, Barnes says she continues to have migraines 28 years later. She also believes the industry blackballed her.
“As far as the subject matter of my past history with Dr. Dre and my current situation, I will say any time a women tells her account of abuse from a public figure, there is always extreme backlash,” she said in the interview. “Women are punished first by the crime committed against them and then for holding abusers accountable for their actions and speaking out against domestic violence and sexual assault. Survivors should be able to hold people in positions of power accountable for their actions without losing their own power.”
In the past, Dre seemed to dismiss his attack on Dee as “no big thing.”
But during an episode of HBO’s “The Defiant Ones,” he touched on his history of violence toward women and seemed to address the incident with Barnes, admitting he was “out of his f*cking mind.”
Barnes, meanwhile, recently created a GoFundMe and a post on her account reads: “Standing in our own truth not the definitions or the expectations is powerful, and this is my TRUTH…Yes, I did post the link to my PayPal, CashApp and GooglePay accounts asking for help because I am in the process of being evicted. This page was created as an emergency fund to stop the process and the subsequent legal fees. Even though I am facing extreme financial hardship, I keep my head up. I know who I am, I know my worth and I know I’m not alone.”
You can donate to her campaign here.
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