T.I. opens up about the status of his relationship with his 19-year-old daughter Deyjah Harris following the cringe-worthy comments he made about her virginity in November.
The “Live Your Life” artist made an appearance on the “Ladies Like Us” podcast last year, when he revealed to the hosts that he accompanies his daughter to her annual gynecologist appointments to confirm that her hymen is still “intact” and to ensure she is a virgin.
Deyjah spoke out about the incident on the June 15 episode of “T.I. & Tiny: Friends & Family Hustle,” admitting that her relationship with her father changed since the hymen controversy. She went on to explain that she was “shocked, hurt, angry, and embarrassed” by the entire situation.
Deyjah revealed she learned of her father’s comments while on a family vacation in Mexico. “I’m scrolling on Twitter and I see I’m tagged in a post and all I see is ‘gynecologist,’ and I didn’t even need to read the whole title. I just knew,” she revealed. “My heart sank.” Deyjah did admit that the “Whatever You Like” lyricist had been going with her to her gynecologist appointments since she was “14 or 15.”
Several people wondered if the father-daughter duo mended their relationship. On Tuesday, July 21, the 39-year-old rapper made an appearance on “The Breakfast Club,” where he revealed that he has apologized to his baby girl.
When radio host Angela Yee admitted that she “felt really bad” for Deyjah after watching the episode, T.I. said at the 37:26 mark: “If any father ever finds themselves in a situation similar to that, we now have historically documented an example of how to deal with it.” He added, “I think that’s important, I think as a people, we have to look to one another to be the example as we move forward because we’re dealing with very unique times and we don’t always have the answers.”
“But how did I deal with it? Same way I deal with everything else; straight ahead. ‘Sweetheart, if that hurt your feelings that wasn’t my intention.’ I actually spoke about that moment because it was a proud moment for me. ‘I didn’t think of you as a young adult who is beginning her adult life and how that may affect you in a public form. I didn’t. I thought of you as my baby … my baby girl … and I thought of you as now you’re still my baby girl, and I’m proud of that and if that hurt you, I’m sorry. But that wasn’t my intention.'”
He went on insinuate that the public turned something into nothing, saying, “But all the other people who were presumptuous and jumped to conclusions and got into some weird, freaky, creepy sh-t, man, f-ck y’all!”
Tip insisted that he never said he was in the exam room with his daughter, did not consult her mother, or made her do it without her permission. He suggested that people assumed those things, sharing that he was apologetic to his daughter but not the public because he doesn’t owe those people “an explanation.”
