Dr. Dre Seeks To Have “Up In Smoke” Lawsuit Dismissed

Lawyers for Dr. Dre have requested that a five-year-old multi-million dollar lawsuit be dismissed, after the super producer was sued by several people that claimed they were illegally included in 2001’s "Up in Smoke" DVD. Dre, Time Warner Inc. and Best Buy were hit with the lawsuit in 2000, after several people claimed their private […]

Lawyers for Dr. Dre have

requested that a five-year-old multi-million dollar lawsuit be dismissed, after

the super producer was sued by several people that claimed they were illegally

included in 2001’s "Up in Smoke" DVD.

Dre, Time Warner Inc. and

Best Buy were hit with the lawsuit in 2000, after several people claimed their

private backstage conversations were illegally videotaped and included in the

DVD.

The contested clip features

a former spokesman for the mayor of Detroit and former police officers in a

heated argument with representatives for Dre over a controversial video clip

that the police later censored.

They claim they never authorized

their appearance in the popular DVD, which also featured performances by Eminem,

Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube.

Lawyers for Dre dismissed

the allegations and said that all three were aware the cameras were rolling.

The lawsuit is

one of several headaches the "Up in Smoke" tour encountered in 2000

in Detroit, Michigan.

When the tour hit

town, Detroit police officers prevented Dre from playing an explicit video during

the performance.

Shortly afterwards,

the super producer filed a $25 million dollar lawsuit against the city, claiming

his right to free speech had been trampled.

The three plaintiffs were

originally seeking damages totaling $3 billion and settled a portion of the

lawsuit in January of 2004.

All individuals filed state

and federal lawsuits against the super producer for "acquiring and commercial

exploitation of the victims private conversations and their likenesses."

A judge previously ruled

in favor of Dre pertaining to the controversial clip featured in the "Up

in Smoke" tour.

In April of 2002, a judge

ruled the city violated Dre’s free speech and ordered the city of Detroit to

issue an apology for preventing the video from being played during the sold

out show.

Additionally, the

city was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine, issue an apology to Dr. Dre and the

Detroit Police were forced to undergo first amendment training.