Atlanta’s T.I. and Tiny were accused in a lawsuit filed Tuesday of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at a Los Angeles hotel in 2005.
The woman, who is identified as a Jane Doe in the lawsuit first reported by Rolling Stone, said she was in her early 20s and in the Air Force at the time when she met T.I. (Clifford Harris) and Tiny (Tameka Harris) at a nightclub. At the time, she believed Tiny gave her a spiked drink, according to the lawsuit. The couple then brought her back to a hotel and sexually assaulted her, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court using California’s Sexual Abuse and Cover-Up Accountability Act, which extended the statute of limitations for sexual abuse claims. Prosecutors had previously declined to pursue charges because of the statute of limitations.
The woman in the lawsuit said she became so ill from the assault that she vomited in the bathroom. She said she passed out and left in “serious pain” the next morning with a security guard while the couple was sleeping.
She previously spoke to The New York Times in 2021 about the assault and aftermath under the condition of anonymity to protect her family.
“Even after all these years, the embarrassment, shame, depression — it still lingers,” her attorney told Rolling Stone. “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, in a statement, denied the assault: “This plaintiff has been threatening to file this lawsuit for three years. 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. 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.”
After the initial allegations came out, VH1 stopped production of a long-running reality show featuring the couple.
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