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Red Table Talk / Facebook
TI says his comments about having his daughter’s hymen checked by a doctor to test her virginity were “misconstrued and misconceived”.
The US rapper made the comments about Deyjah Harris, 18, earlier this month on a podcast called Ladies Like Us.
Now, he’s been quizzed by Jada Pinkett Smith on her podcast, Red Table Talk.
TI says he agreed to speak to Jada and co-host, her mum Adrienne Banfield-Jones to “clear up misconceptions,” but says the hymen checks did take place.
‘This false narrative has been sensationalised’
“All of this surrounds a conversation that I was having in a very joking manner, when asked how do I deal with parenting in this day and age,” TI real name Clifford Joseph Harris Jr, said.
He added he began to “embellish and exaggerate” but said his words came from “a place of truth”.
His wife Tameka ‘Tiny’ Cottle – who joined TI on the podcast – said the checks had happened when Deyjah was “15 or 16 years old at the time”.
“I never said that it was being done present day as an 18 year old,” said TI.
“This false narrative has just been sensationalised”.
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Red Table Talk / Facebook
TI was joined on the podcast by his wife, Tiny
He said Deyjah’s mum, R&B singer Ms Niko, was also present for the check-up.
When his comments first surfaced, he was criticised by sexual health organisations and other celebrities.
“There is no way to ‘check’ whether a person is a virgin,” said Brook, a UK sexual health charity.
“Some people think you can tell if someone’s had sex before if their hymen is stretched open. But that’s not the case,” tweeted US-based Planned Parenthood, in a Twitter-thread.
During the interview, TI apologised to Deyjah, saying she “had a problem” with him revealing she’d gone through the procedure.
But he said the apology only extended to his daughter and not “strangers who toss lies around”.
‘Chubby-fingered little boys’
“I’m being criticised because I’m willing to go above and beyond to protect mine,” he said.
“And I’m talking about the slimy, grimy, chubby-fingered little boys who want to come in, defile and destroy the sanctity that I have as a man.”
“This is a physical urge. This is not an emotional romantic encounter for this gentleman”.
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Red Table Talk / Facebook
Jada Pinkett-Smith quizzed the rapper on his previous comments
He agreed when asked if he thought his daughter, at 15 or 16, would understand the implications of having sex.
“I’m not there to necessarily protect her virginity. I just know that is a big move and once you make that move, there are things that happen and follow,” he said.
“If my son goes out and gets a girl pregnant, how is the household changed for those nine months?
“The household is not necessarily changed for those nine months, whereas if my daughter come home, my household is changed immediately. So the stakes are higher”.
Jada said she believed his comments were the result of a “patriarchal structure”, meaning that men still dominate in all aspects of society.
TI responded that he had heard the term “patriarch” but didn’t know it was “a thing.”
When TI made his original comments, some people said his actions were “disgusting”.
Others stated the women were not the property of men and called the rapper a “misogynist”.
In October 2018, the World Health Organisation ruled that the practice of virginity testing had no scientific or clinical basis behind it, and called it a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
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