A lawyer is seeking an investigation of rapper T.I., whose real name is Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. and his wife Tiny, whose real name is Tameka Dianne Harris, after 11 people have come forward with accusations of abuse and assault against the couple.
Four of the women represented by the lawyer, Tyrone A. Blackburn, accused the couple of “sexual abuse, forced ingestion of illegal narcotics, kidnapping, terroristic threats and false imprisonment,” and others also accused T.I. and Tiny of non-sexual harassment and intimidation according to Blackburn. The accusations spanned over a decade, from 2005 to 2018, and none of the women know each other, though their allegations are “eerily similar,” Blackburn said.
On February 19, the lawyer sent letters to state and federal prosecutors in Georgia and California, as well as the attorney generals of those states, the New York Times reported on Sunday. Some of the women, who are not named in the letters because of fear for their lives, are interested in pursuing legal action against the couple, but they are close to hitting the statute of limitations for their allegations.
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A lawyer for Tiny and T.I., Steve Sadow, told Billboard: “Clifford (T.I.) and Tameka Harris deny in the strongest possible terms these unsubstantiated and baseless allegations. We are confident that if these claims are thoroughly and fairly investigated, no charges will be forthcoming. These allegations are nothing more than the continuation of a sordid shakedown campaign that began on social media. The Harrises implore everyone not to be taken in by these obvious attempts to manipulate the press and misuse the justice system.”
At the end of January, Sabrina Peterson claimed in an Instagram post that T.I. had put a gun to her head, and she posted claims from dozens of other women who said the rapper and his wife had given them drugs and had sex with them. In response, T.I. and Tiny’s team released a statement denying the claims.
These accusations led to the cancelation of the couple’s reality show on VH1, T.I. & Tiny: Friends & Family Hustle, in early February.
“We are aware of the allegations, and while they are not connected to our show, we have reached out to T.I. and Tameka Harris, as well as local and state officials,” an MTV Entertainment spokesperson told Billboard at the time. “Given the serious nature of the allegations, we have decided to suspend production in order to gather more information.”
