T.I. and Tiny have been the recipients of several sexual assault allegations over the past few months. On Friday (April 2), New York lawyer Tyrone A. Blackburn announced he was “speaking with investigators from multiple jurisdictions to pursue criminal charges” after three new alleged victims came forward.
According to The Guardian, one woman claims the couple forced her to take drugs before taking her to a hotel for sex where “she could not consent” in 2010. Another woman alleges Tip and a male friend drugged and raped her in a hotel room that same year, while the third woman says she was drugged and “sex trafficked in Nevada, California and Florida.”
But T.I. and Tiny’s attorney, Steve Sadow, suggests the fact they refuse to identify themselves does nothing but damage their credibility.
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“The Harrises are still waiting for the accusers to reveal themselves publicly, “Sadow said in a statement to HipHopDX. “By continuing to hide behind anonymous allegations, the unnamed accusers effectively render themselves not credible and unworthy of belief. We say: let the light shine on their identities so we can go about disproving these scurrilous accusations.”
Sadow’s statement is reminiscent of the Harris’ last one. In March, Blackburn — who already represents eight of the other accusers — said five additional women and one man had come forward, alleging the couple drugged them and took advantage of them anywhere between 2008 and 2015. Blackburn admitted he’d only taken on one of the alleged victims’ cases at the time because it was the “only one he could corroborate.”
In a statement obtained by HipHopDX, Sadow was confident no criminal charges would be filed and accused Blackburn of gaslighting the media.
“The Harrises continue to deny in the strongest possible terms these scurrilous and unsubstantiated accusations,” Sadow said. “We await Blackburn exposing his anonymous accusers to the light of day, by revealing their names, so we will be in a position to confront their allegations. By Blackburn choosing instead to misuse the media for his own publicity and hiding the identities of his clients from the public and us, he makes it impossible for us to do so now. We fully expect if the claims are thoroughly and fairly investigated, no charges will be brought.”
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The ball started rolling in January when Tiny’s ex-friend Sabrina Peterson claimed T.I. once held a gun to her head. From there, people came out of the woodwork to accuse the couple of sexual misconduct and sexual assault. But at least one accuser admitted she’d fabricated the entire story just to see if Peterson would post it on her social media.
Peterson has a history of stalking and harassment in Georgia and reportedly served prison time for “slicing and dicing” a former friend. Last month, Peterson filed a defamation lawsuit against Tip and Tiny, claiming she’s being harassed because of the couple’s public statements and social media posts, which they issued following Peterson’s bombshell claim in January.
One of the posts included a photo of Peterson’s 8-year-old son, a post she says exposed her son to “vitriol and danger.” But once again. Steve Sadow says Peterson’s lawsuit is nothing more than a calculated strategy to continue her smear campaign.
“[T.I. and Tiny] deny in the strongest possible terms these unsubstantiated and baseless allegations,” Sadow said. “These allegations are nothing more than the continuation of a sordid shakedown campaign that began on social media.” He says they “implore everyone not to be taken in by these obvious attempts to manipulate the press and misuse the justice system.”