Dr Dre’s wife Nicole Young files for divorce after 24 years of marriage citing irreconcilable differences
American rapper, songwriter, and record producer Andre Romelle Young, better known as Dr. Dre, and his wife, Nicole Young, have reportedly called it quits after 24 years of marriage.
Per reports, Young filed for divorce in Los Angeles on Monday, June 29, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for their separation. She is also seeking spousal support.
Dre reportedly met Young in the mid-1990s. At the time, she was still married to former-NBA player Sedale Threatt. Their marriage lasted four years and the two split up in 1996. Per Us Weekly, while she was still married, Dre penned a romantic letter to Young, convincing her to leave Threatt for him.
Young and Dre got married in 1996. The two share two children -- their 23-year-old son Truice, and a 19-year-old daughter Truly. Dre also has four children from previous relationships: 37-year-old La Tanya Danielle Young, 38-year-old Curtis, 29-year-old Marcel, and Andre Young Jr., who died in 2008.
Dre’s former fiancée Michel'le Denise Toussant, a singer-songwriter better known mononymously as Michel'le, the mother of Marcel, had alleged that Dre had once been physically abusive toward her. In the aftermath of Dre’s 2015 biopic ‘Straight Outta Compton’, there was a lot of criticism about the absence of Michel’le in the film, and its silence on his abusive behavior.
A year later, Lifetime aired a biopic on Michel’le, titled ‘Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge and Michel'le’, which tells the story of her alleged abusive relationship with both Dre and Suge Knight.
In 2015, Dre broke his silence on the allegations and told the New York Times, “Twenty-five years ago I was a young man drinking too much and in over my head with no real structure in my life. 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. 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.”
In another interview with Rolling Stone, Dre 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.”
In 2019, Forbes magazine estimated Dre's net worth at $800 million, putting him at No. 2 on the year's list of the world's wealthiest hip-hop artists.