Therapist Says Client Dr. Dre Has Him Fearing for His Life

A California psychotherapist who began working with Dr. Dre in 2018 says he now wears a bulletproof vest out in public following threats from the rapper. Dr. Charles Sophy, who served as therapist and marriage counselor for Dre (Andre Young) and wife Nicole Young before mediating their divorce in 2020, says he lives in "constant fear" after a "systematic and malicious" barrage of "unbearable harassment," including "late-night texts, threats of intimidation and violence, and homophobic rhetoric," according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday, per Rolling Stone. He says that in February 2023, after months without contact, Dre began sending him threatening texts, alleging Sophy had encouraged one of Dre's children to turn against him, per Billboard.

"You f--ked with the wrong one," Dre allegedly wrote. "You're going to have to pay for that." Another time, he allegedly wrote he was "not playing, trust me." Sophy alleges the rapper ultimately sent people dressed as FBI agents to his gated community, where they told a security guard they just wanted to "talk." Sophy says he hired private security and started wearing a bulletproof vest in "fear for his life." Dre's lawyer, Howard King, however, claims Sophy is only trying to distract from a "confidential complaint" Dre filed last year with California's Osteopathic Medical Board, seeking "revocation of Dr. Sophy's license to provide mental health counseling to needy patients."

King says Sophy encouraged one of Dre's children "to go to the press with false allegations in order to force a financial settlement that [Sophy] recommended." "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," King adds. Sophy says there is "no truth" to the allegations. He says he worked "diligently, independently and fairly" to help the family resolve their conflicts. In response, Dre "carried out a series of unlawful acts deliberately intended to threaten, intimidate, terrorize, and ultimately ruin Dr. Sophy personally and professionally." He's seeking at least $10 million in damages and a restraining order against further harassment. (More Dr. Dre stories.)