Fact check: Viral photo of NWA's Eazy-E and Dr. Dre altered to include Betty White

Bayliss Wagner, USA TODAY
·4 min read
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The claim: Photo shows Eazy-E and Betty White together

Fans of the legendary 1980s and '90s rap group N.W.A have been both delighted and skeptical of an image that seems to show prominent members of the group at a restaurant with a pioneer of early television – Betty White.

In the viral photo, dated 1990, it appears that Eazy-E, the stage name of the late Eric Lynn Wright, has his arm around the actress and comedian. Dr. Dre, born Andre Romelle Young, is seated in the booth behind them.

Posts including the snapshot have appeared in popular Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Reddit posts for over two years, most recently drawing over 55,000 likes in a Nov. 9 post by the Instagram page @90sanxiety. "Eazy-E, Betty White and Dr. Dre in the booth behind, 1990," the post's caption reads.

"Is this real??? If it is, it needs to be in museum," user @pueblosonoraoffresa commented.

N.W.A., originally featuring (clockwise from top left): Dr. Dre, Yella, M.C. Ren, the late Eazy-E and Ice Cube.
N.W.A., originally featuring (clockwise from top left): Dr. Dre, Yella, M.C. Ren, the late Eazy-E and Ice Cube.

As it turns out, the viral photo did originate in N.W.A. archives, but White has been digitally added. An unaltered version of the picture shows Eazy-E, Dr. Dre and the mother of N.W.A.'s original manager, the late Jerry Heller.

The photo was digitally edited to include White in 2019 by @_vemix_, an Instagram artist who creates "visual remixes" and has a bio describing the content as "faux real." The @90sanxiety post of the photo tags Vemix but does not note the photo's origin in the caption.

USA TODAY reached out to users who shared the post for comment.

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Image was photoshopped to include White

The image seeming to show White with members of N.W.A. has been shared countless times on social media and made into a variety of products, including hoodies, T-shirts and even face masks.

But these out-of-context appearances obscure the true story behind the photo.

The original photo actually shows Hilda Heller, Jerry Heller's mother, along with Eazy-E and Dr. Dre, Jerry Heller's nephew Terry Heller said. Jerry Heller helped launch the label Ruthless Records with Eazy-E.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Terry Heller (@terry_heller)

"We (Heller's family) were with Eazy all the time," Heller told USA TODAY in a phone interview.

Heller said he found the photo among the belongings left to him by his uncle, who died in 2016. He posted the photo on Instagram on May 4, 2019, captioning it "Wow wow wow! Just found this picture of #eazye and my gorgeous grandmother Hilda Heller!! #ripeazye #ripjerryheller #riphildaheller."

The photo was taken at a record release party in 1990 or 1991, Heller said.

Dr. Dre left the group in 1992 and Eazy-E died of AIDS complications in 1995.

The Instagram account Vemix first posted the composite image in October 2019, captioning it "Betty Wright" in a reference to Eazy-E's birth name. The account posted it again in April 2020.

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Our rating: Altered

Based on our research, we rate a photo that shows White and Eazy-E together ALTERED. The original photo actually shows Eazy-E, Dr. Dre and Hilda Heller, the mother of music producer and N.W.A. manager Jerry Heller. It was digitally edited to include White in 2019.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Photo of Eazy-E and Dr. Dre altered to include Betty White