A judge has denied rapper T.I. and his wife Tiny’s request to dismiss a defamation lawsuit from Sabrina Peterson, making way for their former friend to tell her side of a story riddled with allegations of assault and exploitation.
According to court documents obtained by gossip blog Onsite, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Sotelo denied a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation motion from the couple, whose real names are Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. and Tameka Dianne Cottle, and another party, Shekinah Jo Anderson. The state’s SLAPP law intends to censor or intimidate those exercising their First Amendments.
Judge Sotelo found that Peterson had shown a “probability of prevailing” on her claim against the trio. Furthermore, the documents state, “Peterson has provided sufficient evidence—her testimony—that Clifford put a gun to her head. The Harrises questions about Peterson’s credibility is not relevant in this stage of the case.”
It continued, “The Court does not weigh the credibility or strength of the evidence. Clifford denies he pulled a gun on Peterson, while she declares the complete opposite: this cannot be disproved as a matter of law.”
Peterson’s lawyer Tyron Blackburn released a statement regarding the latest update, stating, “The case goes on—T.I., Tiny, as well as Shekinah’s anti-SLAPP motion failed, and Sabrina is entitled to get justice for the defamation that was visited upon her by the Harrises and Ms. Anderson.”
He added, “The next move is on the Harrises to answer the four counts that judge allows. The hard part for them is that everything is so public and the fact that Shekinah said she was told to do this by Tameka — all these [things] are detrimental to their case.”
As previously reported, earlier this year, Peterson accused the “Why You Wanna” emcee of holding a gun to her head at a children’s party in 2009. Peterson’s allegations subsequently opened the floodgates for more than a dozen women to come forth with accusations of sexual assault and drugging against the “T.I. and Tiny: The Family Hustle” stars.
The pair has maintained their innocence. T.I. also declined an offer from Peterson, who claimed she’d drop the case if he gave a public apology. In an Instagram post, the rapper shared a photo of him, Ne-Yo, Kevin Hart, and Dave Chapelle, all laughing at what appeared to be a Roc Nation brunch. The read, “An Apology????😂😂😂😂 -Drako voice.”
Although the “Ant Man” star has been relatively silent about the ongoing case, he recently denied the accusations once more during an appearance on the “Big Facts” podcast live show. “Sh-t didn’t happen,” the rapper told Big Bank when asked explicitly, “What the hell they talking about you drugging hoes and sh-t?”
He added, “To be honest with you, bro, stupid people listen to stupid people. It’s simple as that. The name of the show is ‘Big Facts.’ You show me one motherfuckin’ big fact on the subject, and we can have this discussion. Give me one. I’m coming from the top of it. This shit started January 29th.”
