T.I. is breaking his silence after he and his wife Tiny were accused of sexual abuse.
After releasing a statement through his rep earlier in the day, the Atlanta rapper has recorded a video in which he refutes the sex trafficking claims made from multiple women, calling them “false” and “baseless.”
“We vehemently deny ALL these disgusting, anonymous allegations,” Tip captioned the post.
In the eight-minute-long clip, he says it’s been “extremely difficult” for him to remain quiet following the “egregious allegations that’s been tossed around about me and my wife.”
He believes that he’s being defamed because his accusers have no legal case in court. “That’s the motive, that’s the strategy, that’s the intention. Say a whole bunch of false stuff about you and make them come out and say, ‘They’re a liar.’”
While he cautions against discrediting women, he says that his accusers have “evil” intentions. “Women who have been victimized deserve to be heard. Black women in particular should be supported, protected, defended, and uplifted,” he says. “However, evil has no gender. People with evil intentions have no gender. A threat comes in all shapes and sizes. I would never treat a woman the same way I would treat a threat.”
He also defends his wife and mother of his children, Tiny. “My wife is a beautiful person with an amazing spirit and a kind heart. She’s a devoted mother and she has a humble soul. She don’t deserve it.”
According to T.I., all the sexual encounters were between consenting adults. “What we not gon’ do is open up the door to my bedroom as you shouldn’t have to either for everybody to come in, chime in, make their opinions about what we do and don’t do. Whatever we ever have done has been done with consensual adults, who into what we into and like what we like. If we want something, we know exactly where to go and get it.”
“We ain’t never forced nobody, we ain’t never drugged nobody against their will, we ain’t never held nobody against their will, we ain’t never made nobody do anything. We ain’t trafficked anything—well, sexually trafficked anything.”
He also denied the rape accusations. “I ain’t never raped nobody, never raped nobody.”
He claims “fake stories” were anonymously sent to Sabrina Peterson, a former friend of the family who accused T.I. of holding a gun to her head, alleging to be from victims. “It dismantles the mechanism that women have created for themselves. You can’t weaponize something with baseless claims.”
Without naming her, he alludes to Peterson as an “evil” person. “There is a record of pattern behavior like this, a history of harassment, a history of violence.”
He goes on to warn against cancel culture (“We can’t just use social media to weaponize people who have families and who communities depend on”) and says he has learned a lot from the experience. “One thing I know, man, I will not be bullied,” he said. “I am not afraid. I am not ashamed. The truth will be revealed.”
T.I. received support in the comments from his celebrity friends including Trae tha Truth, Rico Love, and Meek Mill, who wrote, “We with y’all.”