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If you were still holding out hope for a sudden reconciliation between T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle stars Tameka “Tiny” Harris and her now-estranged husband, rapper T.I., don’t hold your breath.
Since the news first broke in December 2016 that Tiny had filed for divorce, calling for an end to their seven-year marriage, the couple’s troubled union has become a steady headline, with subtle shots fired from both sides.
During a recent highly circulated interview with Power 105.1’s Angie Martinez, T.I. confirmed that he and Tiny were moving on, separately, then called his marriage a “distraction” and sent the Internet buzzing, leaving many of the couple’s fans stunned and coming to Tiny’s defense. Before that fire could go out, the final season of the Family Hustle premiered to reveal Tip and Tiny living apart and focusing on co-parenting and their new lives apart.
To shift through the he-said, she-said, ESSENCE decided to go right to the source, inviting Tiny to be a guest on our Yes, Girl! podcast to set the record straight on where they stand and what happens next.
During the interview, Tiny expressed her true feelings about her soon-to-be ex-husband’s cold remarks and, it’s safe to say she wasn’t pleased. Tiny reveals that she immediately called him out when she heard.
“I had to…like how could he just …like, a distraction?” she said. To add salt to the wound, she says, he doesn’t get what all of the backlash to his comments is about.
“He cannot understand what in the world did he say that wasn’t right…like, ‘I don’t get it. I’m like, ‘You don’t get it?’ [He said] ‘Like, I don’t get it. I didn’t say anything bad about you,” Tiny recalled. “And I’m like, ‘That doesn’t make sense…That’s a cop out, pretty much. Like you’re too old for that. A distraction?! Boy, you’ve been married for seven years going on now, and you’ve been in this relationship for 15 years now. Okay?”
Tiny admits she still doesn’t understand what he was trying to say.
“I don’t see much of a difference from being married from when we wasn’t married,” she continued. “What changed so much?”
During his intimate sit-down with Martinez, T.I. said he could be a better friend to Tiny than a husband. Despite being frustrated with what T.I. told Angie, Tiny told ESSENCE editors and co-hosts Yolanda Sangweni, Charli Penn and Cori Murray that despite what gossip sites might say, there really is no bad blood between them at the moment and they really are still best friends.
“We still talk all the time,” said Tiny, who chose to take the high road after T.I.’s interview. “We’re still together all the time. I don’t know… it’s a crazy thing. But, we definitely had it out about that. On the show you’ll see more about it.”
While Tiny didn’t address the rumors of infidelity in their marriage or the reason for their split head-on, she did acknowledge that it was tough being married to T.I. because of the way other women behave around him.
“It’s crazy because they don’t really care,” says Tiny. “Women today they don’t really care that it’s just for a night. So how can a man…they keep throwing it and keep throwing it. Like, how are they supposed to stay normal and just faithful when this is going on all day, all night? It’s a lot.”
But that’s all in the past, and for now, Tiny said she’s looking ahead to the future and staying positive.
“It’s definitely been different,” says Harris. “I’m doing good. Yup, I’m making it.”
Tiny’s daughter, Zonnique Pullins, 21, who joined her mother in the studio to discuss her hot new solo EP, Love Jones, was quick to cosign.
“My mom is doing real good ya’ll,” she said. “She’s acting exactly the same.”
With their divorce not yet final, is this really the end for the Harris union?
“I cannot say,” said Tiny. “I think it’s close to it.”
There you have it.
To find out whether Tiny has started dating again, what she’s really looking for in her next love interest and what’s next for the Harris family, subscribe (for free) and listen to the full episode above.
