The House of Mouse almost became the House of Chronic.
Disney was reportedly interested in signing gangsta rap artist Dr. Dre to its label after seeing the success of his 1992 debut studio album, “The Chronic,” which boasts hits like “Nuthin’ but a G Thang,” “F-k wit Dre Day,” and “Let Me Ride.”
Peter Paterno, Dr. Dre’s lawyer, revealed the mind-blowing tidbit during a recent interview on the “Connection is Magic” podcast, according to HypeBeast.
Disney was preparing to offer Dr. Dre a $4 million deal, but had second thoughts when it realized that the artist’s expletive-filled music didn’t jibe with its squeaky-clean, family-friendly image.
Paterno said he was called in frequently to meet with Disney’s then-chairman and CEO Michael Eisner.
“We’d have these music meetings every week with Michael Eisner at Disney, and Michael Eisner came by and he sees the record’s at No. 1 and he goes, ‘I thought you had a relationship with this guy?’ I said, ‘I do,” Paterno explained.
Paterno continued, “He said, ‘How come we don’t have this record?’ I go, ‘Well, Michael, let me just read you some of the lyrics… Muthaf*cka, muthaf*cka. And you know what this is on the cover? That’s a marijuana leaf.’ The deal was $4 million. He goes, ‘We can’t do that!’ I go, ‘That’s why he’s not on the label.’”
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
