A New York lawyer sent letters to authorities on behalf of victims
On February 28, Tyrone A. Blackburn reportedly sent letters to authorities in Georgia and California, where the abuses are alleged to have occurred, calling on law enforcement to investigate what he called “eerily similar” claims of assaults that spanned more than a decade, between 2005 and 2017, per the New York Times.
Blackburn claims the couple committed several crimes including “sexual abuse, forced ingestion of illegal narcotics, kidnapping, terroristic threats, and false imprisonment.” He also recounted the story of one woman who claimed to be abused by the couple in 2005. “On several occasions, T.I. forced her to take multiple ecstasy pills," he said.
The #MeToo Movement, Time's Up and the National Women's Law Center are supporting Black survivors of sexual assault
In February 2021, the #MeToo movement, Time’s Up and the National Women’s Law Center put out a letter in support of Black survivors of sexual assault which referenced the alleged victims of Clifford and Tameka Harris.
“The level of violence that has occurred against Black survivors for so long demands stories and headlines that centre them across all media,” it read. “We are carrying the emotional weight of this news and know that we are reliving a collective trauma akin to the exposing of [Bill] Cosby and R Kelly.”
Both T.I. and Tiny have denied the allegations
A lawyer for T.I and Tiny said that the couple “deny in the strongest possible terms these baseless and unjustified allegations.”
“We fully expect that if these claims are thoroughly and fairly investigated, no charges will be forthcoming,” the lawyer, Steve Sadow, said in a statement released on Feb. 28. “These allegations are nothing more than the continuation of a sordid shakedown campaign that began on social media and now attempts to manipulate the press and misuse the justice system.”
T.I. has previously caused controversy, making inappropriate comments about his daughter's virginity
In November 2019, T.I. sparked controversy after revealing that he takes his teenage daughter to the gynaecologist every year to ensure that her hymen is "still intact"—a procedure wrongly believed to determine whether a woman is a virgin or not.
During the appearance on U.S. podcast Ladies Like Us, the father-of-six was asked if he has openly discussed sex with his 19-year-old daughter, Deyjah Harris, to which he replied: "Yes, not only have we had the conversation—we have yearly trips to the gynaecologist to check her hymen."
At the time, Planned Parenthood responded to T.I.'s interview.
