While Dr. Dre was basking in the light of a return to the spotlight, critics of the rapper and entrepreneur were bringing up allegations that he abused women in the past. Those allegations were ignored in the new N.W.A. film Straight Outta Compton, which angered some, particularly the women he was accused of assaulting. To try to head-off the criticism, Dre issued a blanket apology to these women.

In a statement to the New York Times that does not address each case individually, Dre apologized to “the women I’ve 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,” the rapper told the Times. “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.”

Dre added, “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.”

Dre also addressed the issue in an interview with Rolling Stone last week, insisting that he has paid for his mistakes.

“I made some f***ing horrible mistakes in my life," he said. "I was young, f***ing stupid. I would say all the allegations aren't true – some of them are. Those are some of the things that I would like to take back. It was really f***ed up. But I paid for those mistakes, and there's no way in hell that I will ever make another mistake like that again."

The apology comes in the wake of Straight Outta Compton’s success and months after he sold Beats to Apple for $3 billion. It also comes as women have told stories about their encounters with Dre.

Earlier this week, journalist Dee Barnes recalled her experience with Gawker. Barnes says she was brutally attacked at a Los Angeles nightclub in 1991 during a record release party. Barnes filed a civil suit and they settled out of court.

The Times spoke with Barnes, as well as singer Michel’le, Dre’s former girlfriend, and Tairrie B.

“I’ve been talking about my abuse for many, many years, but it has not gotten any ears until now,” Michel’le told the Times. She added that, during their relationship, he was often abusive, but she never filed charges. “We don’t get that kind of education in my culture,” she explained.

Tairrie B, whose real name is Theresa Murphy, told the Times that the rapper punched her in the face during a Grammys party in 1990 because she had recorded a track that was insulting to him.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Compton director F. Gary Gray did tell an audience during a pre-release Q&A that Dre’s incident with Barnes was included in an earlier script. However, that was cut from the movie and never filmed.

image courtesy of INFphoto.com