When it comes to being a father, rapper Clifford “T.I.” Harris takes his job very seriously.
T.I.’s parenting came under fire in recent weeks after he discussed how he kept tabs on his 18-year-old daughter’s virginity during a podcast.
The resulting backlash from his commentary landed him on Jada Pinkett-Smith’s Red Table Talk where the popular entertainer clarified his statements.
Details + video below…
The rapper and his wife, Tiny, sat down with Jada, and her mom Adrienne, for a ‘Red Table Talk’ earlier today (11/25) to chat about what T.I. dished on the “Ladies Like Us” podcast a couple weeks ago.
To refresh your memory, Tip stated that he tags along with his now 18-year-old, Deyjah, to the gynecologist yearly… supposedly for the sole purpose of ensuring her hymen isn’t broken.
Jada grilled T.I. about his commentary during Red Table Talk and they dived right into what T.I. has dubbed “hymengate.”
TI started off the show by apologizing to his daughter Deyjah. But he made it crystal clear that she’s the only person who deserves an apology.
“I apologize to Deyjah, but only her. Not anyone else.”
During the sit down, T.I. says that his statements were totally misconstrued — especially when it comes to the additional details social media added to his commentary.
For example, Tip says he NEVER said he was actually in the room during Deyjah’s annual exam, he was simply privy to the results.
Tiny chimes in to clarify that he only did this on a couple occasions, and that was when Deyjah was about 15 or 16 years old.
For those of you who were wondering where Dejah’s mother was during these appointments, the couple also reveals that the mom was there with T.I. during the check ups and that she actually made all the annual appointments.
Jada and Adrienne, explained why some may have perceived T.I.’s actions as super controlling but Tip says he wasn’t doing any of it out of malice, but from a place of love and protection for his child.
Tip didn’t back down about his strict parenting. In fact he makes the argument about how some fathers are absent in their daughter’s lives and in a day and age when black women are often discarded by their families and society, T.I. insists he wants the opposite for his daughters.
FULL INTERVIEW: