‘Marriage Bootcamp: Hip Hop Edition': The tragic story of Michel’le who accused Dr Dre and Suge Knight of abuse
It was 1989, and Michel’le Toussant, who is popularly known as Michel’le was working with one of the biggest names in the hip-hop industry — Dr Dre, co-founder of Death Row Records. Things couldn’t have been better for the then 19-year-old Michel’le, who had just released her self-titled album produced by Dr Dre, and also fell in love with him.
The couple welcomed their first child in 1991. To the outside world, it seemed like Michel’le was living the dream life, but little did anybody know the "nightmare" that she had to live through.
The couple was together for six years, but never got married. During this time, the singer allegedly suffered domestic abuse in the hands of the legendary producer. After their son was born in 1991, things began going south when Dr Dre allegedly began cheating on her and beating her black and blue. During her darkest time with Dre, she resorted to substance abuse as an escape from her harrowing reality.
This is when the other co-founder of Death Row Records, Suge Knight, stepped in and saved Michel’le. He helped her get her act together by sending her to rehab and ensuring she got all the help needed. The couple got married in 1999, while Suge was in prison. Unfortunately, the marriage isn’t recognized legally because at that time Suge was still married to his now ex-wife Sharitha. Suge and Michel’le have a daughter together. Unfortunately, for the singer, even Suge allegedly hit her once. The couple divorced after being together for eight years of which Suge was in prison for six.
The ‘No more lies’ singer lay low for a while until Dr Dre released his biopic ‘Straight Outta Compton’. Just before the release of his film, he issued a public apology to all the women he hurt in his past. Michel’le didn’t accept his apology and felt that if he really meant it, he should have called her in private and apologized to her for what he did to her 20 years ago instead of issuing a generic public apology statement.
She said, “He apologized to the public. I don’t think that was an apology to me because if it was, he would’ve either called me without the public and said ‘Michel’le, I am so sorry for what I did to you 20-something years ago,’ that’s an apology. I just think he did a general apology because he had a movie out, and he’s got a brand and that’s what you do. I’m not mad at him. If he feels free with that, then that’s good.”
Her story was completely excluded from the record producer’s biopic, prompting Michel’le to finally reveal her side of the story. In collaboration with Lifetime movies, she produced her own biopic ‘Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge and Michel’le’. The film delves deeper into all the trauma and pain that the singer experienced during her relationship with two of the biggest names in the music industry.
Thankfully, the singer seems to be doing much better these days. You can watch her and her new boyfriend Stew on We Tv’s ‘Marriage Bootcamp: Hip Hop Edition’, where we still get to witness the singer still experiencing the aftermath effects of being in abusive relationships. We see her constantly questioning her partner’s love for her, and firmly believing that he isn’t “attracted” to her. Hopefully, by the end of the show, we see the singer gain some self-confidence, and fall in love with herself and firmly believe that she is worthy of love and put her painful past behind her.
You can catch new episodes of ‘Marriage Bootcamp: Hip Hop Edition’ every Thursday at 10 pm ET only on We TV.
