Judge grants T.I. and Tiny’s motion to dismiss sexual assault lawsuit
Rapper T.I. and singer Tiny’s sexual assault cause is behind them, at least for now.
This week, a judge granted the couple’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by a woman who alleged she was sexually assaulted by the former “Friends & Family Hustle†reality stars in 2005. According to legal documents reviewed by The Times, U.S. District Court Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett ordered Thursday that the complaint be dismissed, months after the woman — identified only as Jane Doe in court documents — filed her lawsuit.
Doe accused the “Live Your Life†rapper and the Xscape singer of sexual assault, battery, negligence, false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress in a lawsuit filed Jan. 2 in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The allegations were previously at the center of a 2021 Los Angeles police investigation.
The investigation concluded in September 2021 with the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office deciding not to file charges against the musicians because the case fell outside of the 10-year statute of limitations.
Rapper T.I. and wife Tiny fired back at a new lawsuit that alleges they drugged and sexually assaulted a woman in 2005, saying, ‘We will not be shaken down.’
The lawsuit against T.I., 43, and Tiny, 49, was filed under California’s Sexual Abuse and Cover Up Accountability Act. The law allows civil suits in cases of sexual assault that had gone past the statute of limitations, when “one or more entities are legally responsible for damages and the entity or their agents engaged in a cover up.†The act allowed for suits to be filed through the end of 2023.
When the lawsuit was filed, the couple — whose real names are Clifford Harris Jr. and Tameka Harris — “emphatically and categorically†denied the allegations and maintained their innocence, adding that “the claims in this story have changed time and time again.†Proceedings continued in Los Angeles County Superior Court until April, when the duo filed to move the case to federal court.
In late June, they filed their motion to dismiss “on the grounds that plaintiff’s claims are time-barred and that she fails to allege facts sufficient to state any claim,†the order says.
L.A. police detectives are investigating a report from a woman who alleged celebrity couple T.I. and Tiny drugged and sexually assaulted her in 2005.
While Garnett did grant T.I. and Tiny’s dismissal request, the plaintiff still has a weeks-long window to amend her complaint, according to the order. If she does not file an amended complaint, the sexual assault case will be dismissed without prejudice.
A legal representative for her did not immediately respond to The Times’ request for comment. A representative for T.I. and Tiny also did not comment.
The dismissal order comes just days after T.I. was arrested in Atlanta, according to multiple outlets. The Grammy-winning rapper was detained Sunday at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport after police mistook him for a man with the same name who has a warrant out for his arrest in Baltimore, according to CBS News. The rapper was released within hours of his arrest and has seemingly brushed off the incident — announcing he will perform Friday at an Alaska brewery.
“ALASKA I’m on da way,†T.I. said on Instagram.
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