Dr. Dre Lawsuit Dismissed

A federal court judge in Flint, Mich., dismissed a lawsuit that former Detroit city employees filed against Dr. Dre and others in connection with the “Up In Smoke” documentary filmed five years ago.

U.S. District Judge Paul Gadola said the plaintiffs had no reasonable expectation of privacy. He also said a lower court ruling in the rapper’s favor had already resolved the dispute, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The lawsuit, filed in 2002, involved video footage taken backstage at a July 2000 concert headlined by Dr. Dre at Joe Louis Arena.

Former mayoral spokesperson Greg Bowens and former police officials Paula Bridges and Gary Brown alleged a hidden camera and microphones were used to capture an argument backstage between themselves and some of Dre’s representatives over a sexually explicit video that was to be shown during the concert. The resulting footage was used in the documentary without the plaintiffs’ knowledge or consent.

Defense attorney Herschel Fink said the lawsuit was “much ado about nothing.”

“Hopefully, this will put an end to three years of litigation over groundless claims that the cameras were hidden and the plaintiffs didn’t know the cameras were taping,” Fink told the paper.

Lawyer Glenn Oliver, who represents the plaintiffs, told the Free Press an appeal is in the works.

Defendants named in the suit included Dr. Dre, whose real name is Andre Young; tour promoter Magic Johnson, whose Dream Team LLC was one of the promoters; and Panavision, which supplied the video equipment used in the production