T.I. and Tiny are asking a federal judge in California to dismiss a sexual assault lawsuit filed against them by an Air Force veteran, claiming the Jane Doe plaintiff waited too long to sue and was not “restrained” from leaving the encounter described in the lawsuit after she resisted.
The Atlanta hip-hop artist and his musician wife filed their dismissal motion ahead of a hearing on the request set for August. 7. They allege the woman who sued them last January doesn’t qualify for revival of her claims under California’s Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Accountability Act due to the date the alleged sexual battery took place. Because the alleged assault happened in 2005, it misses a critical 2009 cutoff date and only qualifies for revival under a subsection of the statute that applies to sexual assaults involving one or more corporate entities acting in a concerted effort to hide evidence of a perpetrator’s sexual misconduct.
T.I. and Tiny , whose legal names are Clifford and Tameka Harris, argue that Jane Doe’s lawsuit fails to identify any “entities that are legally responsible for the conduct, let alone that any entity engaged in a ‘cover up’ or attempted a ‘cover up’ of a sexual assault.”
The two also claim in their 12-page motion that Jane Doe’s lawsuit describes a night in which she willingly joined the couple at their hotel. “The facts as alleged, reflect that plaintiff voluntarily and consciously participated in the encounter up to the point when she said ‘no’ and removed herself from the bed with defendants, who honored her expressed desire to leave the encounter, go to the bathroom, sit on a couch until the morning, and then leave,” the motion states. “The factual allegations in the complaint demonstrate that plaintiff voluntarily entered an SUV and a hotel room with defendants, who at no time restrained or prevented her from leaving.”
In her January lawsuit previously reported by Rolling Stone, the Jane Doe says she was around 22 or 23 years old and stationed in Los Angeles in 2005 when she attended a party at Coolio’s house and met a man who purportedly worked for T.I. and Tiny. She alleges the man, who went by the name Caviar, helped facilitate a meeting with the couple at a club the following night. She claims once she was in the VIP section, Tiny handed her a drink she believed was spiked.
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According to her lawsuit, Doe says she was separated from her friend and ended up alone in a hotel room with T.I. and Tiny, who were a couple but not yet married at the time. She alleges T.I. began issuing demands with “explicit detail,” like he was “reciting a script.” She claims Tiny stripped her naked and got into a shower with her. She alleges she was “extremely dizzy and lightheaded” and appeared “visibly drugged” when T.I. directed her to the bed. She claims T.I. turned on a pornographic movie to get aroused as Tiny held her face-down.
“While Tiny was straddled on plaintiff’s back and pinning her down, T.I. then proceeded to slide his toes into Plaintiff’s vagina,” the filing reads. “Plaintiff told him ‘No’ (and) tried to move T.I. out of her and away from her. T.I. then said he would go get a condom and Tiny continued to arouse herself by grinding on plaintiff and massaging her backside. Plaintiff grew increasingly sicker and felt extremely ill by the assault and battery she was experiencing.”
The woman alleges she eventually forced herself to get up and vomited in the bathroom. She claims T.I. then mocked her by saying, “Are you all right? … Looks like you in last place.” She alleges she passed out and noticed she was in “serious pain” the next morning when a security guard demanded that she leave the room where T.I. and Tiny were sleeping.
Lawyer Rodney Diggs, who is representing the woman, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. He previously told Rolling Stone that his client, an Air Force veteran, was “violated.”
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“Forcing someone, in this case by way of drugs, into doing something of a sexual nature they don’t want to is sexual battery — rape,” Diggs said in January. “Even after all these years, the embarrassment, shame, depression — it still lingers. Silencing women silences justice. No longer will my client remain silent; we are now seeking justice for her and everyone who has been similarly violated.”
T.I. and Tiny denied the allegations when the lawsuit was filed. “On the heels of positivity, negativity always rears its ugly head. This plaintiff has been threatening to file this lawsuit for THREE years. For THREE years, we have emphatically and categorically denied these allegations,” they said in a statement sent to Rolling Stone. “For THREE years we have maintained our innocence and refused to pay these extortionate demands for things we didn’t do. For THREE years, we’ve maintained the same position while the claims in this story have changed time and time again. Our position is clear. We are innocent of these fake claims, we will not be shaken down, and we look forward to our day in court.”
The Air Force veteran previously stepped forward in 2021 when multiple women accused T.I. and Tiny of victimization. The Los Angeles County District Attorney considered her claims but declined to file any charges, saying the alleged incident was outside the 10-year statute of limitations. “Without the strengths and weaknesses of the evidence being evaluated, the case is declined due to expiration of the statute of limitations,” the DA worksheet dated September 14, 2021, and obtained by Rolling Stone reads.
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The Harrises also are being sued by Sabrina Peterson, a former friend who alleges T.I. once held a gun to her head and said, “Bitch, I’ll kill you,” after she got into an argument with his assistant. Peterson sued the couple for defamation in 2021, saying their joint statement denying her allegations harmed her reputation.
Peterson’s lawsuit is set for a trial later this year. Meanwhile, the deluge of allegations against the couple led MTV Entertainment to pull the plug on their VH1 reality series, T.I. and Tiny: Friends and Family Hustle.
