Atlanta-based rapper T.I. (real name Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. ) and his wife, Tameka Dianne “Tiny” Harris today (November 25, 2019) appeared on Jada Pinkett Smith‘s “Red Table Talk” talk show where the 39-year-old rapper publicly addressed controversial comments about his 18-year-old daughter, Deyjah Harris, for the first time.
While T.I. initially claimed his comments about attempting to protect his daughter’s virginity were not entirely serious, he admitted he had privately apologized to Deyjah (who has since deactivated her social media accounts) for embarrassing her. “From a place of truth I began to embellish and exaggerate,” T.I. explained and then noted he wasn’t ever present with his daughter in the examining room and added that the practice has ended now that’s she’s 18.
When Jada attempted to frame T.I.’s concept of a woman’s virginity as a product of the patriarch, T.I. stated he was unfamiliar with the concept of patriarchy. Further indicating his ignorance, T.I. went on to define feminism as, “Women wanting men to stop silencing them so they can silence men.”
At one point during the interview, T.I. noted the absence of frequent co-host Willow Smith , who is currently touring. In response, Jada implied he was fortunate she hadn’t attended when she stated, “I think you might be happy in the long run.”
While absent, Willow appeared to weigh in on Instagram stories today where she posted a Tikva Wold comic strip commenting on women wasting their time attempting to educate men. In the comic, the female character states, “Explaining basic shit to you isn’t worthy my time and energy. Random dude!” In response, the clueless male character says, “But how I am supposed to learn anything if you won’t devote hours of free labor to patiently spoon-feeding me knowledge while I spit it back in your face.”
Following the interview, Deyjah’s mother, Ms. Niko, weighed in on Instagram stories where she wrote, “…WHEW CHILE, THE NARCISSISM…”
Trouble first began for T.I. in early November 2019 when he appeared on the “Ladies Like Us” podcast (the episode has been removed) where he told the hosts that he arranges yearly trips to the gynecologist to check his daughter’s hymen to insure she’s still a virgin.
Pushing back on his daughter potentially losing her hymen through activities other than sex, T.I. explained, “So then they come and say, ‘Well, I just want you to know that there are other ways besides sex that the hymen can be broken, like bike riding, athletics, horseback riding, and just other forms of athletic physical activity,’ So I say, ‘Look doc, she don’t ride no horses, she don’t ride no bike, she don’t play no sports. Just check the hymen please and give me back my results expeditiously.'”
Check out the exchange below along with Willow and Ms. Nike’s response.
