Dee Barnes Feels the Honor Bestowed on Dr. Dre at the Grammys Should be Named the ‘Ike Turner Award’

The Recording Academy presented music producer Dr. Dre with the Global Impact Award at the most recent Grammy Awards ceremony. However, as celebrated as the former N.W.A. member is, there is at least one person who feels he doesn’t deserve this or any award.

Former Pump It Up! (a weekly hip-hop show that aired on Fox from 1989–1992) host Dee Barnes, in a recent interview with Rolling Stone, discussed her feelings about Dr. Dre receiving the award, which she stated should be renamed the “Ike Turner Award.”

Twenty-two years ago, on Jan. 28, 1991, Dr. Dre was arrested and charged with assault and battery for attacking Barnes at a record release party in Hollywood. The Beats By Dre creator was allegedly upset with Barnes because of an aired episode that talked about the feud the group had with former group member, Ice Cube. The lead rapper of N.W.A. left the seminal group due to money issues with Eazy E (who initially financed the hip-hop group) and their manager, Jerry Heller.

Dr. Dre, real name Andre Young, avoided jail time when he pleaded no contest, resulting in him paying a $2,500 fine and receiving a two-year probation sentence with community service.

Barnes, who stated that she was blackballed after the incident, still harbors strong feelings toward Dr. Dre.

“Everybody wants to separate the art from the artist, and sometimes that’s just not possible. 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. 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.”

With reason to be angry at Dre for destroying her career, and as she still suffers from migraines from the attack, she feels the only thing people know about her is the assault on her.

“My whole history has been erased — as an artist, as a music journalist, and as a television host. All some people see is the [1991] incident. Whereas with him, it’s like, “Look at all the shiny stuff over here! Look, we’ve got awards, we’ve got schools, we’ve got headphones, we’ve got the Super Bowl, we’ve got productions, movies. Don’t look at that.”

Barnes also discusses the missed opportunity to heal this “blemish” between them. She has reached out to have a face-to-face with the man some label as one of the greatest producers in hip-hop, but those efforts were rejected.

“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. 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. I’ve put out the olive branch. Black women and grace, you know how we are. It wasn’t accepted. But I think that’s going to be the only thing to turn the tide, so to speak—if we have a come-to-Jesus moment in person, in public. Because everything happened publicly, it’s got to have closure publicly.”