Dr. Dre Hit With $10M Lawsuit From Divorce Counselor Over 'Campaign of Harassment'

Dr. Dre is facing a $10 million lawsuit alleging a “malicious campaign of harassment” against a psychiatrist who he says acted as a marriage counselor and mediator for the rapper and his ex-wife before and during their divorce.

In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles court on Wednesday (October 9), Dr. Charles J. Sophie claims that Dre (Andre Young) has been a victim of “ongoing threats” to her as she “worked diligently” to help her resolve it. Conflict with then-wife Nicole Young.

“Instead of treating the mediation process as an opportunity for healing, [Dre] “Dr. decided to take out his frustrations on Sophie's mediation — frustrations that manifested themselves in nearly a year of long-night texts, threats of intimidation and violence, and homophobic rhetoric,” the doctor's lawyer wrote. Christopher Frost Firm Frost LLP.

The suit seeks an injunction against further harassment, as well as monetary damages that the accused's attorneys say should total at least $10 million.

Nicole Young filed for divorce from Dr. Dre in 2020 after 24 years of marriage, citing abusive behavior that Dre vehemently denied. After another 18 months of legal wrangling, the couple finalized their divorce in December 2021 with a $100 million settlement.

According to Sophie's lawsuit, the pair hired her in 2018 for a “joint psychotherapist-patient relationship” where she provided therapy and marriage counseling. After the divorce case began, he said he continued to work with the couple, along with their lawyers, to mediate the terms of the separation.

In February 2023, Sophie claimed that after months of no contact, Dre began harassing her via text messages. According to an alleged screenshot included in the complaint, in the first such message, Dre told Sophie that an unnamed person said something “disturbing” to him, followed by a threat: “You're going to pay for this.”

Two months after that first text, Sophie says Dre repeatedly sent her threatening texts, accusing the doctor of “ethical violations” and threatening to report her to medical regulators. In one, he allegedly told Sophie, “You f—ed wrong”; In another, Dre reportedly said he was “not playing, trust me.”

“I'm not going anywhere,” Dre wrote in an April 2023 text, “until you explain to me why you tried to talk. [an unnamed person] For talking negatively about me in the media. Sophie says there is “no truth behind these baseless and far-fetched allegations” and she tries to ignore the threats, but eventually she begins to fear for her safety.

“Young, a prominent and powerful figure in the music industry with a well-documented history of violence and abuse, intentionally committed a series of unlawful acts intended to threaten, intimidate, terrorize and ultimately destroy Dr. Sophie personally and professionally,” the lawsuit reads.

The threats extended beyond text messages, according to the lawsuit. In one alleged incident, Sophie claimed that fake FBI agents hired by Dre came to her gated community and told a security guard that they needed to “talk” to the doctor at her home.

“This incident, which occurred shortly after the initial text was sent in February, was not a coincidence,” Sophie's lawyers wrote. “This was a calculated, illegal attempt … to threaten her physical safety and send the unmistakable message that Yang could reach Dr. Sophie even in the sanctity of her home.”

The incident left Sophie “fearing for her life” and “taking extreme security measures”, including hiring personal security and wearing bulletproof vests. Her lawyers say the “excessiveness” of Dre's behavior eventually “forced Dr. Sophie to seek redress and protection” in court.

“Dr. Sophie does not like to sue a former patient,” the doctor's lawyers wrote. “No one has to live in constant fear. But Dr. Sophie does — ironically, for no other reason than to try to help Yang resolve her own family conflict.”

In technical terms, the lawsuit accuses Drake of harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress, as well as violations of California law prohibiting the use or threat of violence to interfere with someone's civil rights. The lawsuit also claims that some of the threats were based on Sophie's sexual orientation, meaning they violated California's hate crime law.

In a response statement, Dre's attorney Howard King Sophie filed the lawsuit only in retaliation after Dre filed a confidential complaint with the Osteopathic Medical Board of California to revoke the doctor's medical license alleging “neglect of duty and gross incompetence” during the divorce.

“In gross violation of all applicable standards of care, Dr. Sophie inserted herself into a contentious divorce while simultaneously 'treating' not only Mr. and Mrs. Young, but their children,” King wrote. “She was fired when it was revealed that she was encouraging one of their children to take sides against Mr Young, even encouraging her son to go to the press with false allegations to force him to make the financial settlement he recommended. Dr. Sophie has consistently rebuffed the medical board's efforts to investigate these claims, but now files this desperate lawsuit as the medical board's noose tightens.”