Update 26 November: T.I has spoken out for the first time since drawing criticism for saying he attends his teenage daughter Deyjah’s gynaecologist appointments to ‘check her hymen’ is intact.
During a discussion on Jada Pinkett Smith and her mother Gammy’s podcast Red Table Talk, the rapper sat down with his wife Tiny Harris to address the controversy and attempt to clarify his previous comments about parenting and his daughter’s sexual health.
At the beginning of the interview, T.I attempted to downplay his comments regarding his involvement in his daughter’s medical appointments, claiming: ‘I just began to embellish and exaggerate, and people began to take it extremely literal.
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‘I think my intentions have been terribly misconstrued and misconceived.’
He continued, claiming with his wife and his daughter’s stepmother that Deyjah’s gynaecology appointments took place when she was 15 or 16 years old.
‘I never said her mother [Niko Harris] wasn’t present. I didn’t make the doctors appointment,’ he said.
Apologising to his daughter for making comments about her sexual health (‘She understands my intentions, who I am, and who I’ve always been. I think that allows a certain level of understanding.’), the actor went onto address claims that he is a ‘controlling parent.
‘For there to be malice, there must be ill intent,’ he argued. ‘If I’m going to the doctor with you just for the sake of controlling you, then ok.
‘But if I’m going for the purpose of being a protective parent, and there’s no such thing as overprotective. There’s protective and unprotective.’
The rapper explained that he doesn’t ‘have control of anything’ his daughter does now that she is 18, adding that he believes to have put ‘moral, standards, principles and greatness’ in his children.
While he says that he wasn’t trying to ‘protect [his daughter’s] virginity’ by attending her gynaecology appointments, T.I stated that sex is a ‘big move’.
‘You have to be equipped – I don’t know if you’re equipped,’ he said, revealing that he has told her daughter to keep her ‘expectations low’ when it comes to men.
On the subject of sex, he said: ‘You can’t get your feelings wrapped up in this now – this is an animalistic urge. This is not an emotional, romantic encounter for this gentleman.
‘She definitely should be afraid of what could come from [having sex]. The dangers of pregnancy, the dangers of diseases, the dangers of having your heart broken.’
During the interview, T.I also said that your childhood ends when you lose your virginity, adding that black women are the ‘most unprotected, unattended, disregarded women on the planet.
‘I’m being criticised because I’m willing to go above and beyond to protect mine,’ he argued.
‘I’m talking about all the slimey, grimey chubby-fingered little boys who want to come in and defile, and destroy the sanctity that I have…’
At the end of the conversation T.I said that if his son was to become a father, his household wouldn’t change. However, he continued: ‘If my daughter comes home [pregnant], my household changes immediately. [...] the stakes are higher.’
Update 8 November: T.I.'s daughter has reacted to her father's controversial comments after he stated that he attends her annual gynaecology appointment to check her hymen is still intact.
Since the quotes came to light, Deyjah Harris, 18, has 'liked' a series of tweets that described the 39-year-old's actions 'disgusting' and 'possessive'.
On Tuesday, she also tweeted: 'I loveeeeeee yalllllll' with a sad emoji.
After making the comments on Nazanin Mandi and Nadia Moham's podcast Ladies Likes Us, the pair have apologised for their reaction to T.I's remarks. During their interview, the pair laughed, clearly out of nervousness after hearing T.I's controversial statement, but were criticised by several Twitter users for not calling out the Atlanta rapper.
‘We were completely caught off guard/shocked and looking back, we should have reacted much differently in the moment,’ a segment of their joint statement reads.
It’s official. We have just slipped back into medieval times. At least, that’s what we've surmised after hearing rapper T.I.’s latest comments about his daughter, her hymen and virginity.
On Wednesday, the 39-year-old – whose real name is Clifford Joseph Harris Jr - received a torrent of completely justified criticism after he appeared on an episode of the Ladies Likes Us podcast, released this week.
In the interview, the rapper admitted that he accompanies his teenager daughter Deyjah Harris to her annual gynaecology appointment to check that ‘as of her 18th birthday, her hymen is still intact.
‘So we'll go and sit down and the doctor will come and talk and the doctor's maintaining a high level of professionalism,’ he explained to the podcast’s hosts Nazanin Mandi and Nadia Moham.
‘He's like, “You know sir, I have to, in order to share information” - I'm like, “Deyjah they want you to sign this so we can share information. Is there anything you wouldn't want me to know? Oh, OK. See doc, no problem”.’
It’s right about here we would like to point out three things to T.I.:
- 1) A broken or stretched hymen doesn’t mean a woman has lost her virginity
- 2) Virginity is a social construct which has as much to do with your hymen as it does your chin
- 3) Although it might be his business to guard his daughter's safety and arm her for the world, it is not his place to govern her virginity like a gate-keeper
But wait, in the interview T.I. explained that gynaecologists ‘always’ tell him that the make-up of the hymen isn’t a relative indictor of whether someone has had sex. So, he’s fully aware of this medical fact.
He continued: '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.’
Unsurprisingly, celebrities like Iggy Azalea and Chrissy Teigen and several gynaecologists have responded to T.I.’s remarks.
‘Def did not think we would be talking about hymens today. or TI [sic],’ Teigen tweeted.
‘Unfortunately, he is dead serious,’ posted Azalea on the social media platform in now deleted tweets, according to E! News.
‘Really I wish the women who interviewed him would have said something to him [sic],’ the 29-year-old singer continued. ‘He has serious control issues with women in all aspects of his life & needs therapy.'
The Vagina Bible author and gynaecologist Dr Jennifer Gunter commented on Twitter: ‘The hymen is no virginity indicator, 50 per cent of sexually active teens do not have a disrupted hymen.’
Planned Parenthood – the non-profit organisation that provides sexual health care around the world – added to the backlash on Twitter, explaining that whether or not a woman’s hymen is intact has no relation to her virginity.
‘Idk who needs to hear this but virginity is a made-up social construct, and it has absolutely nothing to do with your hymen,’ the tweets began.
‘Some people just naturally have hymens that are more open. And many other activities besides sex can stretch your hymen — like riding a bike, doing sports, or putting something in your vagina (like a tampon or finger). Once your hymen is stretched open, it can’t grow back.
‘Some people think you can tell if someone’s had sex before if their hymen is stretched open. But that’s not the case. Say it with us: YOU CAN’T TELL IF SOMEONE’S HAD SEX BY THE WAY THEIR HYMEN LOOKS OR FEELS.’
In light of the rapper’s comments, Professor Janice Rymer, consultant gynaecologist and vice president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, echoed Planned Parenthood’s sentiments.
‘The harmful, intrusive and discriminatory practice of virginity testing is unscientific, medically unnecessary and unreliable,’ Dr Rymen told us.
‘There is no way of determining whether a girl or woman has had sexual activity. It is recognised by the United Nations as a violation of a girl or woman’s human rights and is harmful to physical, psychological and social well-being.’
In light of the criticism, T.I. is yet to respond. However, the Shade Room reports his daughter has ‘liked’ posts commenting on how ‘possessive’ and ‘out of control’ her dad is.
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
