No matter what happens, it seems that T.I. and his wife Tameka “Tiny” Harris will always come out on top. Just last summer, T.I. was arrested in Atlanta over a case of mistaken identity, and Tiny, with her husband, was in court for an assault case, but the case was dropped. Not only that, but the couple lost out on $53.5 million– except they didn’t?
Let us explain: According to a FOX5 News Atlanta report, the couple has been rewarded $53.5 million after the Judge decided that MGA Entertainment did indeed peek into the OMG GIRLZ closet and copy their look.
Now, if you don’t know, the OMG GIRLZ were a popular pop girl group in the early 2010s. Harris, a former member of the R&B group Xscape, formed the OMG GIRLZ, and under Harris’s label, the group released multiple albums, was featured in T.I. ‘s music video “Hello,” and was nominated for an NAACP award until they split in 2015. However, they did come back together to release their newest single, “Motion,” in 2024.
Their colorful and extravagant fashion characterized the group. Bright hair, wild patterns, and loud accessories were their signature, and it is this same fashion that MGA Entertainment has used for the OMG Dolls. A New York Times article states that Harris first pointed out the similarities on Instagram in a post she captioned “Do these dolls look familiar?” in April of 2022. Since then, a legal battle has ensued with allegations claiming that MGA Entertainment was engaged in cultural “appropriation and outright theft,” according to FOX5 Atlanta. Though Sky News reports that MGA Entertainment denied these claims with their lawyer calling them “baseless and offensive”.
According to an article in Digital Music News, MGA Entertainment had been ordered to pay $71 million in September. However, that amount was later questioned by Judge James Selna, the judge assigned to the case, and Selna considered reducing that amount to $17 million. However, on Twitter, Journalist Meghan Cuniff shared court documents showing that Judge Selna changed his mind.
Now, Tiny Harris and T.I. have won this legal case over the OMG Girlz, they could receive $53.6 million in punitive damages and $17.9 million in actual damages, according to court documents, which amounts to a total of $71.5 million in compensation.