A lawyer representing nearly a dozen people is calling for a sexual abuse investigation against rapper T.I. and his wife Tameka “Tiny” Harris.
In a letter sent to state and federal authorities in Georgia and California, lawyer Tyrone A. Blackburn, who is representing the 11 “victimized” people, alleged “sexual abuse, forced ingestion of illegal narcotics, kidnapping, terroristic threats and false imprisonment” against the rapper (birth name Clifford Harris) and his wife spanning from 2005 to 2018, the New York Times reports.
Five of the victims cited in the letters claimed they were raped or sexually assaulted by the couple. One of the women, a military veteran, says she was drugged by the couple after meeting them at a club; she was later taken to their hotel room — experiencing the effects of the alleged drugging — where she claimed Tiny bathed her and T.I., and the three then engaged in sex, during which the woman vomited.
“The next thing she remembers was waking up naked on the couch, with a towel thrown over her, with a very sore vagina,” the letter states. Friends of the woman corroborated her story to the Times.
In a statement to Rolling Stone, the couple’s lawyer Steve Sadow said, “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.”
After multiple women shared their accusations of sexual abuse against T.I. and Tiny on social media — including Sabrina Peterson, who in January accused T.I. of putting a gun to her head in an Instagram post. She then used her account to share statements from over 30 women who claimed they had been drugged, coerced or forced into sex, and trafficked by the Harrises — production was halted on the fourth season of the couple’s VH1. reality show T.I. and Tiny: Friends and Family Hustle. Blackburn told the Times that none of his clients were among the women who alleged sexual abuse on social media.
A spokesperson for MTV Entertainment said, “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. Given the serious nature of the allegations, we have decided to suspend production in order to gather more information.”
T.I.’s spokesperson said in a statement, “Mr. and Mrs. Harris want to be on record and more importantly want the public to know they emphatically deny in the strongest way possible the egregiously appalling allegations being made against them by Sabrina Peterson. The Harrises have had difficulty with this woman for well over a decade. They are taking this matter very seriously, and if these allegations don’t end, they will take appropriate legal action.”
T.I. himself addressed the allegations in a January 29th eight-minute video posted on Instagram. “We vehemently deny ALL these disgusting, anonymous allegations,” the rapper wrote, saying that while “women who have been victimized deserve to be heard… however, evil has no gender. People with evil intentions have no gender. A threat comes in all shapes and sizes. I would never treat a woman the same way I would treat a threat.”
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