To set the table a bit, rapper T.I. has been married to songwriter/producer/manager Tiny Harris (who is also known as Tameka Cottle) since 2010. They have been dating since 2001. They have a blended family that includes seven children. TI came to the relationship with three children. Tiny came to the relationship with a daughter. They then had three children of their own.
I don't think T.I.'s resume needs much of an explanation. Multi-platinum rapper and successful actor.
Tiny Harris is no scrub in the career department, either. In high school, she was in a girl group called Xscape, which, after signing to Jermaine Dupri's So So Def Records, went on to release three platinum records. Then, after Xscape broke up, Tiny and future Real Housewife Kandi Burruss co-wrote the smash-hit song "No Scrubs" for the group TLC. Twenty years later, Tiny and Kandi received songwriting credit on Ed Sheeran's song "Shape of You" due to an interlopation of "No Scrubs" that he mixed into the melody.
From 2011 to 2017, the family starred on a VH1 reality series called "T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle." They had a spinoff called "T.I & Tiny: Friends & Family Hustle" that ran from 2018 to 2021.
In 2009, T.I. and Tiny created a teen pop singing group called OMG Girlz. One of the three members of the group was the daughter Tiny brought to the marriage, Zonnique Pullins. The other two girls are Bahja Rodriguez and Breaunna Womack.
Bahja Rodriguez, Breaunna Womack, and Zonnique Pullins (Photo by Jason Kempin/WireImage)
OMG Girlz released a handful of singles, but was mostly known for their distinctive hairstyles and costumes. Those hairstyles and costumes would eventually become the center of a lawsuit filed by T.I. and Tiny against a toy maker called MGA Entertainment and its owner, Isaac Larian. FYI, Isaac Larian became a billionaire thanks to the Bratz doll empire.
In addition to Bratz, MGA Entertainment also created a line of dolls called "L.O.L. Surprise! OMG Dolls." Those dolls wore urban outfits and had vibrant hairstyles that were suspiciously similar to the outfits and hairstyles worn by OMG Girlz. T.I., Tiny, and the OMG Girlz members thought the similarities were not a coincidence and opted to sue MGA, claiming that the line of dolls infringed on the copyright of OMG Girlz. Their lawsuit sought $100 million in damages.
In the trial, the OMG Girlz members testified that the dolls' outfits and styles copied specific outfits and styles they wore at performances and in photos posted to social media. Below is an exhibit shown in the court case that T.I. and Tiny believed proved OMG Girlz was being copied illegally:
There were other exhibits that painted a similar picture. In their lawsuit, T.I. and Tiny's team also referenced confused fans of OMG Girlz, who thought the toy line was their official toy line.
The case originally went to trial in January 2023. This trial ended in a mistrial. The second trial concluded in September 2023. T.I. and Tiny LOST this trial and were actually ordered to pay MGA $6 million to cover its legal fees. That was not the end of the case. In September 2023, T.I. and Tiny were granted a retrial, amazingly, after a Supreme Court judgment came down on a different case. In this other case, the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment did NOT protect a dog toy company from creating a chew toy that looked like a bottle of Jack Daniel's whiskey. At the THIRD trial's conclusion in September 2024, the jury found in favor of T.I. and Tiny. They were awarded $71 MILLION, made up of $17.9 million in compensatory damages and $53.6 million in punitive damages.
MGA has the option to appeal the verdict, but considering their legal fees in the previous trial were $6 million, let's assume they've spent at least $20 million on legal fees thus far, maybe it's time just to settle. Would T.I. and Tiny take $40 million for this to be done once and for all? Probably. Or maybe they are so bitter and emboldened by having to take this to court three times that they'll want the full $71 million.
In an Instagram video posted after the verdict, Tiny said: "We did this for the city. We did this for the culture. It was a helluva fight…" She also went on to thank the jurors… because ya… $71 million.
