Beats co-founder and Apple employee Andre Young, aka Dr. Dre, allegedly hired a hitman to kill Suge Knight, according to a lawsuit filed by Knight.
The former hip-hop mogul who co-founded Death Row Records claims Dre tried to have him murdered because Knight was owed a $300 million payout after Apple’s $3.4 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics in 2014. That deal made Dr. Dre the first billionaire in hip-hop.
[contextly_auto_sidebar] Suge alleges in his lawsuit that he had a lifetime management deal with Dre, who was part of Death Row Records back in the day, when rap beefs ended with bodybags. The deal supposedly entitled Suge to 30 percent of all of Dre’s entertainment earnings.
Mo money, mo problems
Knight says Dre tried to cut him out instead of paying the $300 million he claims he was owed after Apple bought Beats.
The reason (aside from all that cash)? Apple didn’t want its brand associated with Knight.
During the 2014 Video Music Awards, Knight got shot seven times in the stomach. He subsequently recovered. Then, in 2015, Knight tried to visit Dre and Ice Cube at a promotional shoot for their movie, Straight Outta Compton. Knight fled the scene after running over two men in his truck. One of the men died.
In his lawsuit, Knight says he ran over the two men because one of them was paid $300,000 by Dr. Dre and Universal Studios to kill him. Dre is currently working to create an original TV show for Apple Music based on his life as a rap DJ in the ’90s.
Dr. Dre has not commented on the lawsuit. However, one of his lawyers released the following statement:
“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.”
