Suge Knight, the famous American rapper, record producer and music executive, is reportedly suing longtime pal Dr. Dre for an alleged attempt to take him out. The “Death Row Records” founder claims Dre [real name Andre Young] hired hitmen to kill him in order to avoid paying debts owed.
Image: Suge Knight
According to a report from TMZ:
Suge says he had a lifetime management deal with Dre, which entitled him to a 30% cut of Dre’s entertainment earnings. When Beats came along, Suge alleges Dre tried to cut him out, in part because Apple — which bought Beats from Dre — didn’t want its brand associated with Suge.
Dre’s solution, according to the lawsuit, was to hire a hitman to kill Suge at 1 OAK during the 2014 BET Awards weekend. Suge was shot 7 times in the abdomen but recovered.
The suit claims the L.A. County Sheriff’s Dept. questioned a man named T-Money about the shooting, and he told investigators he was paid by Dre to kill Suge. Suge says, despite 37 cameras in 1 OAK, no arrests were made.
New York Daily reported that the 30 percent share was part of a “lifetime management agreement” which Knight has with Dre, including earnings from producing ‘Straight Outta Compton’ for Universal Music.
Knight is accusing Dre of two attempts on his life. The first was at 1 Oak nightclub in West Hollywood (August 2014) and and a follow-up allegedly sponsored by the accused, in Compton (January 2015).
A statement from the lawsuit filed in an L.A. court reads: “Dr. Dre did it. Andre Young is responsible for both crimes.”
Meanwhile, Dre’s attorney Howard King has dismissed those claims as baseless and biased. He says: “Given that Dre has had zero interaction with Suge since leaving Death Row Records in 1996, we hope that Suge’s lawyer has lots of malicious prosecution insurance.”
Knight has been in prison for an alleged attempt to kill two persons after a violent confrontation in 2015. The business mogul was in Compton’s Tam Burgers to meet up with Cle “Bone”Sloan, who he claims had received $300,000 from Dre and Universial, which produced “Straight Outta Compton”.
The said cash amount was meant for Suge – as a settlement. But situation got out of hand and Knight allegedly attacked Sloan and Terry Carter with his truck.
Unfortunately, Sloan sustained serious injuries but Terry Carter, who was also involved in the money talks, lost his life.
Knight claimed he was escaping from an ambush and had no intentions to kill any of the two.
According to a report from The Associated Press, Knight’s lawsuit listed Dre, Universal and Apple as respondents to his $30 million lawsuit, alleging that the indicted reached a “mutually agreeable scheme” that would result in Dre somehow severing ties with Knight.
“Knight is informed and believes that Apple, Universal and Young agreed that payments for the armed assault were to be made by Young so as to not implicate Universal or Apple,” the cross complaint states.
Image: Dr. Dre
A report from Hip-Hop Wired says Suge is suing Dr. Dre for unspecified damages which extends to 30% of however much Dre made from the sale of Beats By Dre to Apple. The transaction stands around an estimated $1B, at least.
The Guardian reported that Knight’s lawsuit is a response to a wrongful death lawsuit filed against Knight, Dre, Ice Cube and Universal Music by Terry Carter‘s widow, Lilian Carter.
Lilian’s husband was run over by Knight’s truck on the set of NWA biopic “Straight Outta Compton”. The rapper is currently facing a murder charge for the death.
