T.I. and wife Tiny won $71 million in their long-running lawsuit against toy company MGA Entertainment in Chatsworth.
The 49-year-old Xscape singer, real name Tameka Cottle, thanked their legal team and the jury for their verdict and “seeing what we’ve been fighting for the last three trials,” in an Instagram Live posted after emerging victorious from Monday’s hearing.
She and the 43-year-old rapper, Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr., have been battling MGA Entertainment since 2020 due to the company’s L.O.L. Surprise O.M.G. dolls allegedly violating intellectual property of the musicians’ O.M.G Girlz group, People reports.
(L-R) Bahja Rodriguez, Reginae Carter, and Zonnique Pullins of The OMG Girlz attend BET Awards Media House at Quixote Studios West Hollywood on June 24, 2023 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images for BET)
“They came back with the best answer possible for what they feel like we deserve,” Tiny said outside a federal courthouse in Santa Ana.
Asked what the victory means for young Black girls who find their likeness stolen, Tiny said the win was “a stepping stone for the culture, for the creatives, so they’ll know they have the opportunity to do the same and they can win.
“We’re just happy we were able to do that, to be a part of that,” she said.
A previous federal civil trial was declared a mistrial in January 2023, after the judge found that testimony accusing MGA of cultural appropriation was improperly played for the jury.
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