Rapper Clifford "T.I." Harris and his wife, singer Tameka Tiny Harris have come out on top of a legal battle against toy company MGA Entertainment. They secured nearly $71 million in restitution for the case that commenced in 2020. A California federal jury ruled that MGA Entertainment had misappropriated the name, likeness, and image of OMG Girlz.
OMG Girlz is a pop group co-owned by the celebrity couple, and is more famously known for its L.O.L Surprise! O.M.G dolls. The case has been going on since 2023, and this was the couple's third time suing. The conglomerate was awarded $17,872,359 in real damages and $53,616,759 in punitive damages, La Merr reported.
Tiny Harris says that she "would have been happy with whatever"
Tiny Harris took to Instagram Live to share her happiness with the world on Monday, September 23, right outside a federal courthouse in Santa Ana, California. She said,
“We did this for the city. We did this for the culture. It was a fight. It was a hell of a fight. We couldn’t be more happy. We wanted to thank the jurors for just seeing us through this, and just believing in what we said. They heard our story and they knew we wasn’t lying. It’s amazing."
Tiny also spoke to Rolling Stone about her victory, noting:
“I mean, wow. They did more than I thought they would. I would have been happy with whatever. They blessed us more than beyond. We wanted to thank the jurors so bad, but we didn’t get the opportunity.”
The jury deliberated for a cumulative six hours over two days, ultimately ruling unanimously that the transgression was "willful," and also done with "malice, oppression, or fraud.”
The jury also noted that the O.M.G dolls “infringed on the trade dress and misappropriated the name, image, and likeness of the all-female band that T.I. and Tiny Harris formed in 2009.” Furthermore, several were found to have a resemblance to other artists like Beyoncé and Lady Gaga.
Tiny Harris has voiced her disapproval of the whole ordeal on many occasions over the years, such as when she took to Instagram this week to post a side-by-side comparison. "Do these dolls look familiar?" was slapped across the image, and she captioned the post,
"1 of many but biggest custom outfit in questioned! @omggirlz vs #OMGDolls last wk of court! God willing the truth will prevail!!! 🙏🏽🩷💜💙 Motion video dropping this wk!!! #TeamOMG #PrettyHustleGang."
T.I. and Tiny Harris co-founded the OMG Girlz back in 2009, alongside her daughter, Zonnique “Star” Pullins.
The OMG Girlz comprised Bahja “Beauty” Rodriguez, Breaunna “Babydoll” Womack and Pullins. While the group disbanded, they reunited last year to hit the road for a tour of their latest single.
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