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, but most of her claims against the hip hop couple were dismissed on appeal.
On Tuesday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Anne Richardson granted the couple $96,700 after the parties chose not to challenge the tentative ruling she issued Monday in plaintiff Sabrina Peterson’s case. The Harris couple had originally sought $165,000.
In earlier court papers, Peterson’s lawyer argued that the defendants’ attorneys’ fees request should be denied, citing a failure of the Harris attorneys to provide an itemized list of the legal work completed as ordered by the court. Alternatively, the amount of fees should have been reduced to align with awards in similar anti-SLAPP cases in this district, Peterson’s lawyer stated.
The judge’s final decision came a day after the Harris lawyers filed court papers seeking to have Peterson’s remaining two claims for defamation and false light invasion of privacy dismissed as well.
“Plaintiff’s claims are barred because the alleged defamatory statements attributed to defendants are true and/or substantially true,” the couple’s lawyers argued in their court papers.
The defense attorneys added that their clients’ statements were opinions, they harbored no malice toward Peterson, and thus the Harris couple should be awarded additional attorneys’ fees.
In September 2021, retired Judge David Sotelo denied anti-SLAPP motions brought by the Harrises and hairstylist Shekina Jones Anderson in Peterson’s lawsuit. The state’s anti-SLAPP law, intended to prevent intimidation of those exercising their First Amendment rights, was not applicable according to the judge.
However, on June 2, a three-justice panel of the Second District Court of Appeal unanimously ruled in favor of the Harrises, striking Peterson’s claims for trade libel, intentional and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Justice Audra Mori, who authored the opinion, also stated that the Harrises were entitled to attorney’s fees.
Peterson initially filed the lawsuit in March 2021. Prior to that, in an Instagram post, she accused 43-year-old T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, of threatening her with a gun. Peterson shared statements from 30 other women who claimed to have been drugged or coerced into sex by the Harrises.
In response, the Harrises denied the gun accusation in an official statement and posted their responses on Instagram. Tameka Harris, 48, posted a photo of Peterson’s 8-year-old son and asked her to stop harassing her family and seek help. T.I. posted an eight-minute video denying the allegations.
Anderson, who appeared on the Harrises’ reality show “T.I. & Tiny,” made a defamatory Instagram post in January 2021, according to the lawsuit. She alleged that Peterson engaged in sexual acts with T.I. and Tiny.
Peterson offered to dismiss the lawsuit if the Harris couple apologized and admitted the falsity of their remarks.
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