Who is LaTanya Young's mother? Dr Dre got Lisa Johnson pregnant when she was just 15
The fact that LaTanya Young, one of Dr Dre's daughters, is currently homeless and living out of her car despite her father having a net worth of around $820 million shocked a number of people, and the music legend was slammed online.
The little-known fact came to light after Daily Mail interviewed LaTanya, who currently works for DoorSadh and Uber Eats as a driver to make ends meet. “I’m taking odd jobs just to make it now — I got paid $15 an hour as an assembler at the warehouse. I’m trying to keep my head above water. I’ve been in debt for a while,” LaTanya said. She also added that she was not in direct contact with her father for the last 18 years and only way she could get in touch with him was through the rapper's team.
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When she was asked how she felt about the musician paying ex-wife Nicole Young nearly $300,000 in spousal support, she said, “It’s embarrassing because people are looking at me wondering: Why? What Nicole has got is what my mom should have got.” This got many people curious about who LaTanya's mother was. LaTanya's mother is Lisa Johnson.
Who is Lisa Johnson?
According to the Sun, Johnson was raised in South Central Los Angeles before she moved to LA's west side. She began dating Dr Dre, whose real name is Andre Young, at the age of 14.
Ben Westhoff’s book 'Original Gangstas: The Untold Story of Dr Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the Birth of West Coast Rap' says about Johnson, "Her dad was out of the picture and her brother had been killed in gang violence. Andre seduced her when she was in ninth grade, she said, but their relationship was controversial from the start. Johnson’s mother thought she was too young to be dating, so the pair ditched school to meet secretly."
Johnson had three daughters with Dr Dre: LaTanya (1983), LaToya (1984), and Ashley Young (1985). When she was in the 10th standard, Johnson became pregnant with LaTanya at Fremont. At the time, her mother threw her out of the house. Dr Dre was 17 years old at the time while Johnson was 15. “He was a real proud father at the time,” Johnson recalled.
Johnson, now aged 53, split from the rapper, in the late 1980s, when their eldest daughter LaTanya was five years old. According to 'Original Gangstas', on May 29, 1985, a judge ordered Young to stay at least 100 yards away from Johnson after she alleged that he “hit me in the mouth and bust my lip”, according to a police document. Dr Dre was also ordered to pay $200 a month child support for each of their daughters.
Johnson never filed any criminal allegations against the rapper and as a result, her accusations "were never ruled upon in court", adds Westhoff's book. However, her aunt helped her apply for a combined child support order and a domestic violence restraining order. However, the order never came to fruition. Westhoff quotes Johnson saying: “He didn’t do any child support, and he did not stop contacting me."
Dr Dre denies domestic violence allegations
Dr Dre has reportedly denied the allegations telling Rolling Stone that he had made some “horrible mistakes” in his life when “I was young [and] stupid”. "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," he added.
He also 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."