The upcoming biopic "Straight Outta Compton" gives viewers an intimate look into the rise of '90s rap group N.W.A. and the beginnings of Dr. Dre's influential music career. But the movie avoids one area of Dre's dark past.
As Gawker points out, in an attempt to humanize the notorious group, the film fails to mention Dr. Dre's assault of hip-hop journalist Dee Barnes -- a beating that N.W.A. members MC Ren and Eazy-E said she "deserved."
In a conversation with HuffPost Live on Monday, VIBE magazine's Editor-in-Chief Datwon Thomas said the incident, which occurred in 1991 after ex-member Ice Cube was featured on Barnes' show "Pump It Up," should not be lost in history.
"It's a moment that needs to be documented because it shows that this man [Dre] doesn't have just shiny spots on his resume. He has those dark moments," Thomas told host Marc Lamont Hill.
While Thomas said that Dre has spoken about the issue when pressed, the opportunities to do so are few and far between.
"It is something that he had to answer for and I think he does step up and try to talk about it when addressed. But it's hard to address him about it because he doesn't do interviews like that," he said. "It was amazing to hear him talk about the Suge Knight incident on set with The Hollywood Reporter. He just said it was an unfortunate incident. It's just hard to get those really deep answers to those questions that you want from Dre. It's really tough."
Watch the full HuffPost Live conversation about Dr. Dre's latest project here.
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