T.I. and his wife Tiny accused of drugging and assaulting women
Rapper T.I. and his wife Tiny Harris have been accused of drugging and sexually assaulting multiple people, according to a lawyer who is now calling for criminal investigations into the allegations. The alleged incidents took place in several states between 2005 and 2018.
Attorney Tyrone A. Blackburn sent letters to the attorneys general in California and Georgia urging them to investigate claims from 10 women and one man who alleged that the rapper, his wife and their associates engaged in acts including "forced drugging, kidnapping, rape, and intimidation."
"These women are unaware of each other, and without any leading on my part, they recount eerily similar events of sexual abuse, forced ingestion of illegal narcotics, kidnapping, terroristic threats, and false imprisonment," Blackburn said in his letters.
An attorney for the couple said the pair, whose real names are Clifford and Tameka Harris, "deny in the strongest possible terms these baseless and unjustified allegations." Attorney Steve Sadow also called the claims a "shakedown" that began on social media.
"Blackburn repeatedly refused to provide the names of his accuser-clients or any corroborating or supporting evidence of his groundless claims," Sadow said in a statement. "The Harrises repeat that they are confident if a thorough and fair investigation is conducted, no charges will be brought."
The letters describe multiple alleged instances of drugging and assault. In 2005, a woman in her early twenties met the couple at a club in California, where she had one drink of her own and a sip from a drink that Tiny offered her, according to Blackburn's letter to the California attorney general. She went to the rapper's hotel room and became "lightheaded and dizzy" and eventually threw up, the letter said. She rejected his advances but said she remembers "waking up naked on the couch with a towel thrown over her with a very sore vagina," the letter claimed.
Three women have accused the couple of drugging them in Atlanta. One said she was working for the couple in the summer of 2006 when she was offered a drink and pills from Tiny, which made her sick, Blackburn's letter said. She eventually threw up and woke up naked, believing her virginity had been taken, the attorney wrote.
T.I., a renowned Atlanta-based rapper, is known for his contributions to early 2000s hip-hop. In 2010, the three-time Grammy winner married Tiny, who is known for her songwriting career in the 1990s.
The two have their own reality tv show on VH1, where cameras document their large family and celebrity life. Deadline reported that MTV entertainment, a division of ViacomCBS, paused filming for the fourth season to "gather more information" after allegations began to surface earlier this year.
Blackburn recalled the new allegations in a Monday morning news conference and said he's heard claims from more than 30 women. Most, he said, remained anonymous out of fear of retaliation.
"One of the reasons that I've heard from all the women was the fact that they didn't think anyone would believe them," Blackburn told reporters Monday, adding that it's "easier to come out when there are other women who have similar stories to stand with you."