Dee Barnes
Source: Twitter
Pioneering Hip-Hop Journalist Dee Barnes Is Now Homeless
\u201cThank you to everyone for your prayers, your support, your messages, phone calls, and positive vibrations, I am profoundly grateful to you all\u2764\ud83d\udc9b\ud83d\udc9a#CountYourBlessings \nhttps://t.co/tQLChQpGW9\u201d— Sista D.Barnes\ud83d\udc51\u270a\ud83c\udffe\ud83d\udd25 (@Sista D.Barnes\ud83d\udc51\u270a\ud83c\udffe\ud83d\udd25) 1552684681
Dee Barnes has been evicted from her home after a long financial struggle.
In a new interview, 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 told HipHopDx.
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.”
READ: Michel'le Biopic Trailer Portrays A Very Abusive Dr. Dre
Barnes had recently created a GoFundMe explaining her situation.
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."
As the host of Pump It Up! Barnes became the first female hip-hop journalist to have a broadcast television show. Her career derailed in 1991, after being brutally attacked by Dr. Dre. Barnes filed criminal charges against Dre and a civil suit followed before they settled out of court in 1993.
Dre, who had long dismissed the story, spoke on his history of abusing women during an episode of HBO’s The Defiant Ones, saying he was “out of his fucking mind." The music mogul referred to abuse as “a major blemish” on who he is as a man.
After the attack, Barnes says she continues to have migraines 28 years later, and believes that she was blackballed by the industry.
“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."
READ: Suge Knight Says Dr. Dre Tried to Have Him Murdered
In 2016, Dre threatened to sue Sony Pictures over the release of the TV movie Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le, which depicted him as a violent abuser to former girlfriend and singer Michel'le.
Michel'le has gone on record with allegations of physical abuse against Dre.
