# Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le

Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le is a 2016 American biographical drama television film directed by Janice Cooke, written by Dianne Houston, and starring Rhyon Nicole Brown as Michel'le, Curtis Hamilton as Dr. Dre and Jamie Kennedy as N.W.A's manager Jerry Heller. The film is based on the true story of R&B singer Michel'le. The omission of Michel'le's involvement in the lives of Dre in N.W.A's 2015 biopic, Straight Outta Compton, gave her an opportunity to tell her story as a former artist on Eazy-E's Ruthless Records.
The film premiered on Lifetime on October 15, 2016.

## Plot

Discovered at a young age, the shy, squeaky-voiced Michel'le was plucked straight from South Central, Los Angeles and catapulted into the spotlight while riding N.W.A’s rocket ride of early success. Surrounded by industry visionaries from Eazy-E to Tupac Shakur, Michel’le quickly climbed the charts; but, her musical successes were soon overshadowed by betrayal and corruption. A nearly decade-long abusive relationship with the infamous Dr. Dre pushed her into a life tarnished by alcohol, drugs and violence until her savior came in the unlikely form of Suge Knight, co-founder of Death Row Records and Dre's business partner. Friendship would turn into a courtly romance, but the union Michel'le thought they had did not end happily-ever-after. With children from both men and a career to protect, Michel’le's voice became silenced by Compton’s biggest power players, but she is now determined to find her voice again.

## Cast

* Rhyon Nicole Brown as Michel'le
* Jamie Kennedy as Jerry Heller
* Curtis Hamilton as Dr. Dre
* Vonii Bristow as Ice Cube
* Omari Wallace as Eazy-E
* Daniel DeBoe as M.C. Ren
* Deric Augustine as DJ Yella
* Kedrick Brown as Alonzo Williams
* R. Marcos Taylor as Suge Knight
* Adrian Arthur as Tupac Shakur
* Michel'le as herself / The Narrator

## Reception

Prior to the release of the film, Dr Dre's lawyers threatened legal action against the filmmakers if the movie contained scenes of him assaulting her, which he denied. However, the film portrays Dre physically abusing Michel'le, even shooting at her in one scene. Dre ultimately did not take any legal actions for his depiction.

### Reviews

Reviewing the film, Ben Westhoff at The Guardian wrote:
   The question many viewers will have after their viewing: is the film accurate? I would say, for the most part, yes. I extensively interviewed Michel’le and other survivors of Dre’s alleged abuse for my new book Original Gangstas: the Untold Story of Dr Dre, Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Tupac Shakur, and the Birth of West Coast Rap, and investigated their claims. The film largely echoes Michel'le’s accounts to me, though she never went to police with her allegations – unlike other women including television host Dee Barnes and Lisa Johnson, the mother of three of Dre's children who alleged he beat her many times, including while she was pregnant. (Dre pled no contest to beating Barnes, and received probation, while Johnson was granted a restraining order against him. A Ruthless rapper named Tairrie B also maintains that Dre beat her.)
Westhoff also noted that Jerry Heller was portrayed sympathetically and "somehow comes off better than anyone else".

## Awards and nominations

Surviving Compton: Dre, Suge & Michel'le was nominated for Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Long Form – Original at the 69th Writers Guild of America Awards in 2016.