Dr. Dre has been instructed by a court to pay $500,000 to his estranged wife’s divorce attorneys.
Nicole Young – who has been married to the hip-hop icon since 1996 – had pleaded with Los Angeles Judge Michael Powell to compel Dre to pay $2 million per month in spousal support and $5 million for her attorney fees.
But, during a hearing, the Superior Court Judge ordered Dre to pay her lawyers $500,000 within 10 days.
A ruling on the spousal support matter has been postponed until another hearing on July 8th.
In a written ruling, the judge said: “Pending the next hearing dates on this matter, the Court grants only $500,000 in attorney’s fees to petitioner’s (Nicole’s) counsel … Fees are to be paid to petitioner’s counsel, no later than May 7.”
Dre has consented to go on with paying for Nicole’s monthly expenditures and will also continue to pay the mortgage on the Malibu home she lives in.
However, the producer has asserted he won’t pay for her security costs.
In January, Dre decided to pay Nicole $2 million in spousal support, which was to cover the period up until April 14th.
Nicole had been asking for more than $2 million a month but Dre’s lawyer previously told the court her client has been willingly reimbursing her for all her expenses since they split.
Nicole also pursued $5 million in attorney’s fees but her estranged husband said he has already spent close to $1 million voluntarily, even though the divorce documents weren’t even filed until June last year.
Dre has refuted Nicole’s accounts of emotional and physical abuse.
Although Nicole doesn’t work, she’s contended she “played an important role” in Dre’s career, which included being “integral” to the naming of his record label, Aftermath.
Nicole later filed another lawsuit, arguing she co-owns the trademark to her estranged husband’s name, along with that of his 1992 album The Chronic.