Attorney Tyrone A. Blackburn has asked the California Attorney General and police departments in several states to investigate rapper T.I. and his wife, Tameka “Tiny” Harris.
Blackburn addressed the allegations against the couple in a press conference held Monday on Zoom, the video conferencing app. “The criminal allegations span over 15 years of methodical, sadistic abuse against women in various venues throughout the country,” he said. “This matter is ongoing, and I suspect will evolve with the passage of time, as more persons of interest come forward.”
To date, 11 women have allegedly approached Blackburn with accusations that the rapper and his wife are guilty of sexual assault. Blackburn said he is currently vetting two other women who say they were also victims of abuse at the hands of T.I. and Tiny.
In a letter dated February 16, 2020 to Attorney General Xavier Bacerra, Blackburn outlined descriptions of what allegedly happened to some of the women, who claim the rapper and his wife sexually abused them, forced them to ingest illegal narcotics and made terroristic threats against them. One of his clients, referred to as Jane Doe 1, claims she was raped by Tiny and T.I. when she was 17 years old and a virgin. Jane Doe 1 says she was interning with the couple at their Atlanta studio when Tiny offered her a drink. According to her statement, it was the teen’s first-time drinking. At some point, Tiny allegedly instructed the teen to undress. Blackburn said Jane Doe 1 claims she passed out “and woke up the following morning naked on a bed with the other high school intern and another young girl. She was bleeding from her vagina. She felt that she was [menstruating], but then realized that her virginity was taken.” Jane Doe 1 said an employee working for the couple drove her to get a morning after pill and threatened her to keep her mouth shut or something terrible would happen to her and her family.
T.I. and Tiny have both denied the allegations and have posted screenshots claiming one of the victims is lying about her story.
Despite the couple’s denial of the sexual abuse claims, Blackburn encouraged others to speak up about sexual encounters they may have had with the Atlanta-based superstars. “If any woman or any man who is out there and is going through things, you have a story, come forward,” Blackburn said. “The truth is what needs to be heard.”