Dr. Dre Hit With $10M Lawsuit Over Alleged Harrasment Of Therapist
Dr. Dre is at the center of a multimillion dollar lawsuit accusing him of harrassing his therapist with “sinister” threats and false accusations of wrongdoing.
According to documents obtained by Rolling Stone, Dre, real name Andre Young, is named in a $10 million lawsuit filed by his former psychotherapist, Dr. Charles Sophy. The complaint, which was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claims that Dre subjected Dr. Sophy to a “systematic and malicious” onslaught of “unbearable harassment” through mutliple texts and other means.
Dr. Sophy is citing civil harassment, threat of violence based on his sexual orientation, and a court order prohibiting contact in the suit and is seeking compensatory damages of at least $10 million and punitive damages to be determined by the court.
Per the lawsuit, Dr. Sophy was hired by Dre in 2018, as the producer and his now ex-wife, Nicole Young, were attempting to resolve their marital differences. Sophy says he acted “diligently, independently and fairly” during his time working with the couple, whom stopped seeing Sophy following their divorce settlement in 2021.
However roughly 14 months later, Sophy says that Dre began contacting him with threatening texts vowing to settle a perceived offense made against him by Sophy.
“Rather than treating the mediation process as an opportunity for healing, Young decided to take his frustrations about the mediation out on Dr. Sophy — frustrations that manifested themselves in the form of a nearly year-long sustained campaign of late-night texts, threats of intimidation and violence, and homophobic rhetoric,” the lawsuit states.
Dre is alleged to have sent several “overtly threatening” texts to Dr. Sophy beginning in February 2023, in which he warned that he had received “disturbing” information regarding Dr. Sophy that he would have to “pay for.” Dr. Sophy also claims that Dre asked him to illegally disclose confidential information he was gven during a separate therapy session with a third party.
Despite attempts to deescalate the situation between himself and Dre, the producer allegedly continued to threaten him, resulting in Dr. Sophy becoming “more fearful for his life than ever before.”
It is even believed by Dr. Sophy that Dre deployed men who impersonated FBI agents in an attempt to gain entrance to his home as part of what he believed was a tactic to leave him unsettled.
“Dr. Sophy lives in constant fear. He wears a bulletproof vest anytime he steps foot outside, is afraid to leave his home and is constantly looking over his shoulder. The egregiousness of Young’s persistent harassing behavior has compelled Dr. Sophy to seek redress and protection,” the lawsuit states.
“Nobody should have to live in constant fear. But Dr. Sophy does — ironically for no other reason than he tried to help Young to resolve his own family’s conflict.”
A legal rep for the hitmaker has refuted Dr. Sophy’s claims, countering that Dre filed his own “confidential complaint” against Dr. Sophy with the Osteopathic Medical Board of California last year in an attempt to “get Dr. Sophy punished for dereliction of duties and incredible incompetence.”
Howard King, Dre’s attorney, gave Rolling Stone a statement detailing Dr. Sophy’s alleged misconduct, which includes him allegedly attempting to coerce Dre’s children to vilify their father.
“That complaint seeks revocation of Dr. Sophy’s license to provide mental health counseling to needy patients. In gross violation of all applicable standards of care, Dr. Sophy inserted himself into a contentious divorce while he simultaneously ‘treated’ not only Mr. and Mrs. Young, but their children.”
“He was terminated when it was revealed that he was encouraging one of their children to take sides against Mr. Young, even encouraging his son to go to the press with false allegations in order to force a financial settlement that he recommended,” King claims in the statement.
He continued, “Dr. Sophy has consistently rebuffed Medical Board attempts to investigate these claims, but has now filed this desperate suit while the noose of the Medical Board is tightening.” Yet, Sophy has denied those claims, adding that he initially did not take legal action against Dre in hopes of resolving the matter.
“There is no truth behind these baseless and far-fetched accusations,” Dr. Sophy’s lawsuit states. “Dr. Sophy tried to let the threats go and not pursue them. Young however, would not let go.”
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