Rapper T.I. and his wife, Tameka “Tiny” Harris, have been awarded nearly $100,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs from a woman who sued them. However, most of the claims filed against the hip hop couple by the plaintiff, Sabrina Peterson, were dismissed on appeal.
On Tuesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Anne Richardson granted the couple $96,700, following the tentative ruling she issued on Monday which was not challenged by the parties. The Harris couple had originally sought $165,000.
In earlier court papers, Peterson’s lawyer argued against the defendants’ attorneys’ fees request, claiming that the Harris attorneys failed to provide an itemized list of the completed legal work as ordered by the court. Alternatively, Peterson’s lawyer argued that the fees should have been reduced to align with similar anti-SLAPP cases in the district.
The judge’s final decision came after the Harris lawyers filed court papers asserting that Peterson’s remaining claims for defamation and false light invasion of privacy should also be dismissed.
“Plaintiff’s claims are barred because the alleged defamatory statements attributed to the defendants are true and/or substantially true,” argued the couple’s lawyers in the court papers.
The defense attorneys further stated that their clients’ statements were opinions, that they had no ill will towards Peterson, and that the Harris couple should be awarded additional attorneys’ fees.
In September 2021, now-retired Judge David Sotelo denied the anti-SLAPP motions brought by the Harrises and hairstylist Shekina Jones Anderson in Peterson’s lawsuit. The state’s anti-SLAPP law aims to prevent the use of courts and the threat of a lawsuit to intimidate those exercising their First Amendment rights.
The judge concluded that Peterson had demonstrated a “probability of prevailing” in her claims against the couple and Anderson, including defamation per se, defamation trade libel, invasion of privacy, intentional and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage, and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
However, on June 2, a three-justice panel of the Second District Court of Appeal unanimously ruled that Peterson’s claims for trade libel, intentional and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage, and intentional infliction of emotional distress should be dismissed. Justice Audra Mori, who wrote the opinion, also confirmed the Harrises’ entitlement to attorney’s fees.
Peterson filed the lawsuit in March 2021. In an Instagram post two months prior, Peterson accused T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, of pointing a gun at her head. She also shared statements from over 30 women who claimed to have been drugged or forced into sex by the Harrises.
The Harrises denied the gun accusation in an official statement, and both addressed the allegations on Instagram. Tameka Harris posted a photo of Peterson’s 8-year-old son, urging Peterson to stop harassing her family and seek help. T.I. posted an eight-minute video denying the allegations.
Anderson has appeared on the Harrises’ reality show, “T.I. & Tiny,” as well as other programs. The lawsuit alleges that Anderson made a defamatory Instagram post in January 2021, accusing Peterson of engaging in sexual acts with T.I. and Tiny.
Peterson claims that she offered to dismiss her lawsuit if the Harris couple apologized and admitted that their remarks were false.
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