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T.I., Tiny Harris face sexual assault lawsuit for alleged 2005 LA hotel incident: Reports
View Date:2024-12-23 19:20:48
T.I. and wife Tameka "Tiny" Harris are facing a new civil lawsuit from a woman who claims the couple drugged and sexually assaulted her in a hotel room in 2005.
The civil suit was filed by a Jane Doe in a Los Angeles court on Tuesday, according to documents obtained by Billboard and Rolling Stone.
The woman alleges that after meeting the couple in the VIP section of a nightclub, she was given a spiked drink and then brought back to their hotel room, where they "forced her to get naked" and sexually assaulted her, according to the outlets.
The woman "did not consent to any of the sexual assault or misconduct and did not have the capacity to consent after being drugged by," T.I., 43, and Tiny, 48.
T.I., born Clifford Harris, and Tiny, born Tameka Cottle, deny the allegations, calling the claims "fake" and suggesting the lawsuit amounted to "extortionate demands" in a statement to USA TODAY.
"On the heels of positivity, negativity always rears its ugly head. This plaintiff has been threatening to file this lawsuit for THREE years," the statement reads. "For THREE years, we have emphatically and categorically denied these allegations. For THREE years we have maintained our innocence and refused to pay these extortionate demands for things we didn't do."
The statement continues: "For THREE years, we've maintained the same position while the claims in this story have changed time and time again … We are innocent of these fake claims, we will not be shaken down, and we look forward to our day in court."
T.I., Tiny Harris sued by Air Force vet for alleged sexual assault
The woman was in her early 20s and serving in the U.S. Air Force at the time of the alleged incident.
In the lawsuit, attorneys for the woman reportedly claim she was introduced to the couple by an associate named "Caviar," whom she met the night before at the late rapper Coolio's house. After drinking the beverage that was allegedly offered to her by Tiny, she began to feel "extremely dizzy and lightheaded" and eventually passed out.
The woman was then taken to a hotel where she "was then directed to get in the shower" where "T.I. and Tiny entered the shower with her," reads the lawsuit.
The outlets report that, according to the suit, she "could tell she was experiencing something serious and debilitating that was not a symptom of a typical drink or a few drinks."
After the shower, the woman claims T.I. told her to get into bed and forced her to watch pornographic movies. He later "demanded she begin rubbing oil on his back and naked body" on top of her.
Then, while Tiny pinned her down, the woman claims T.I. penetrated her with his toes.
The woman later got sick, according to the suit, and passed out on the couch. She noticed genital pain when a security guard woke her and escorted her crying out of the room while the couple slept, her lawyers allege.
T.I. and Tiny lawsuit follows 2021 sexual assault allegations
The accusations against the famous couple echo those made during a reported 2021 police investigation, in which The New York Times reported police were investigating a 2005 incident involving "a military veteran" who claimed that the couple had "raped her in a hotel room" after she was drugged while drinking with them in the VIP section of an LA club.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday follows over a dozen allegations of sexual assault against the rapper and Xscape member in recent years.
In 2021, over a dozen women came forward with claims including drugging, sex trafficking and rape. None of the accusers shared their names in the lawsuits.
Rapper T.I. and wife Tiny's lawsuits:What has been alleged
One of the most jarring claims comes from a woman who details an encounter with the couple in Miami when she was 20 years old. She says that T.I. forced her to swallow a pill and to take a powdered substance, which drugged her. She alleges Tiny then proceeded to engage in sexual intercourse, but she could not consent.
Another woman, also 20 at the time, claims she was drugged and raped by T.I. and one of his male friends, again in Miami, in May of 2010. The women's attorney at the time, Tyrone Blackburn, said he had received medical records for the victim.
This week's lawsuit is filed under California's Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Accountability Act, which allows civil suits in cases of sexual assault that are now beyond the statute of limitations where "one or more entities are legally responsible for damages and the entity or their agents engaged in a 'cover up.'"
The act allows for lawsuits to be filed through the end of 2023, or the end of 2026 for assaults that have occurred since 2009. Some lawsuits, including the one filed against T.I. and Tiny, were allowed to be filed Tuesday after the deadline since the law expired during a holiday weekend.
Jackson 5 member Jermaine Jackson and Motown founder Berry Gordy, Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee and Mike Greene, the former Recording Academy CEO, have all been accused of sexual assault in separate suits filed under the law late last year.
Contributing: Amy Haneline
Adult Survivors Act:Why so many sexual assault lawsuits have been filed under New York law
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