(Cal. Kdramastars) - Cupertino, California-based Apple Inc. purchased Beats Music and Beats Electronics in 2014, making it the largest acquisition in the tech firm's history. The association dubbed Apple Music Dr. Dre, was a collaboration with a rapper and an entrepreneur and was deemed as a step in the right direction for Apple. The deal paved the way for yet another iconic hardware line, Apple Music.
But that halo around the Apple music Dr. Dre logo could be swaying as Dr. Dre undergoes domestic violence charges. Can Apple survive a link to social injustice?
The answer was yes as Apple said in a statement that it supports Dr. Dre, who is now an employee/consultant for the tech giant. Is there a cause to be concerned for the Apple Music line or Apple's inflated stocks prices? No, said the Steve Jobs-inspired firm since Dr. Dre is a changed man after an incident cited about 25 years ago.
Dr. Dre apologized to "the women I've hurt," said a New York Times article. "Twenty-five years ago I was a young man drinking too much and in over my head with no real structure in my life," Dre said in the report. "However, none of this is an excuse for what I did."
Apple responded to the allegations swiftly and did not deny the musician's past. "Dre has apologized for the mistakes he's made in the past," said a report by The Washington Post. "We believe his sincerity and after working with him for a year and a half, we have every reason to believe that he has changed."
Dr. Dre co-founded the Beats headphone company. The reason for the enhanced product was because Apple's ear buds left much to be desired in sound quality. The Apple Music Dr. Dre collaboration made the rapper the "first billionaire in hip-hop," which he declared himself but was later reported to be untrue. And the head man at Apple, CEO Tim Cook among others invited Dr. Dre to join their team.
"Apple has had an amazing ability to deflect negative criticism," said Peter LaMotte, a senior vice president at Levick, strategic communications firm.
According to Eden Gillott Bowe, a public relations expert said that the Apple Music Dr. Dre tie-up is not at stake because there is still value in the streaming music business, which Apple is barely tapping. This is a bigger problem for Dr. Dre than it is for Apple.
"He can't absolve himself from what he did in the past by simply saying he's a
changed man, any more than Bill Cosby could," Gillott Bowe said, The Post reported.