T.I. and Tiny Receive Massive pay cut in Lawsuit Settlement

T.I., born Clifford Joseph Harris, and wife Tiny was set to receive $71.4 million dollars after filling a lawsuit against OMG Dolls, but the judge wants less.

In 2020, the Atlanta-born couple sued MGA Entertainment, claiming the company violated the intellectual property rights of their group, the OMG Girlz. This came after the release of the L.O.L. Surprise! O.M.G. Dolls.

On September 23, the Xscape singer, expressed her happiness after the four year long court battle that ended with a $71.4 million victory. In an Instagram Live she said “We did this for the city. We did his for the culture.” Fans speculated on social media that the dolls had a striking resemblance to the former girl group.

According to Rolling Stone, the jurors agreed that more than a dozen dolls “infringed on the trade dress and misappropriated the name, image, and likeness of the all-female band that T.I. and Tiny formed in 2009.”

OMG Girlz consisted of Tiny’s daughter, Zonnique Pullins, Bahja Rodriguez, and Breaunna Womack. Tiny has continuously called out the L.O.L. Surprise! O.M.G. dolls for their similarities. The group in question had testified at the trial. Wockman shared with Rolling Stone that she “got so emotional.” when the verdict came out.

But on January 6, U.S. District Judge James Selna made a preliminary ruling on the case. The judge claimed there wasn’t enough evidence to prove that MGA Entertainment directly copied OMG Girlz designs. Selna believes it may be eerily similar but the evidence does not support such a large payout.

The judge utilized the Lanham Act, which emphasizes how important it is to prove that a company willfully infringed on an existing trademark. Which he doesn’t believe MGA did. If the ruling goes through the pair will lose out on their $53 million in punitive damages. Causing them to walk away with just over $18 million.