T.I. has defended the controversial comments he made over his daughter’s virginity, which resulted in a huge backlash online earlier this month.
Speaking on the Ladies Like Us podcast, the US rapper opened up on being a parent and was asked whether he’d had the “sex talk” with his 18-year-old daughter, Deyjah Harris.
T.I. responded with the claim that he makes her visit the gynaecologist once a year to “check her hymen”, reasoning that she’s likely to be sexually active if it’s broken. “As of her 18th birthday, her hymen is still intact,” he said.
Yesterday (November 25), T.I. addressed the criticism he faced for the remark during an episode of Jada Smith’s Red Table Talk. He claimed that the comment was made “in a very joking manner” and that “from a place of truth, [he] began to embellish and exaggerate.”
“My intentions, I think, have been terribly misconstrued and misconceived,” he continued.
“Let me go set this record straight. I never said I was in any exam room. That is an assumption. That is a falsity. I never said that it was being done present-day, as an 18-year-old.”
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The artist’s wife Tiny Harris – aka Ms. Niko – added that their daughter “was 15 and 16 years old at the time” of the test. T.I. then explained that “her mom was present every time” she visited the gynaecologist.
T.I. said that he was “incredibly apologetic” towards Deyjah as she took issue with her father discussing the subject publicly.
T.I., meanwhile, has backed efforts to stop the upcoming execution of Texas death row inmate Rodney Reed.