There are some women who are 100% down for an open relationship. There are women who will not stand for their men to have eyes for anyone else but them, no matter the temptation. And then there are those that may not see their men cheating as a deal-breaker for what they initially would’ve hoped to be a monogamous relationship. For some, the mindset is their partner is “just being a man” and choose to deal with it while others may walk away after reaching their breaking point. For Tameka “Tiny” Harris, infidelity has been somewhat of a mainstay in their marriage, but her narrative seems to give a bit of a pass to her husband, T.I.
T.I. is known to give his (often unsolicited) opinion to the masses on various subjects from politics and racism to relationships. Much of what he has to say at times draws a debate, criticism, or backlash. It was no different when the “Pardon” rapper appeared on The Angie Martinez Show in the midst of one of the couple’s “off-seasons” when he commented that marriage can be a distraction.
Around this time Tiny filed for divorce from her rapper husband, bringing Angie Martinez to ask T.I. about the status of their relationship. T.I. expressed that they were in a pretty amicable place. “There is no beef. We good. We straight,” the Atlanta rapper claimed. “Everyone else got the problem. We see each other. We speak. We talk. We spend time together. That’s still one of the best friends I have in the world. I can just be a better best friend than a husband.”
T.I. then got a bit more honest with Martinez about where he stands on marriage and how it applies to him adding, “It seems to me that marriage and what marriage means and what marriage does — it’s just one of those things that’s going to distract me and deter me. And that could be selfish, but ultimately, I’m the patriarch of this family. And it’s my responsibility to take us onward and upward. I just have a purpose and I don’t always have the time to do the thoughtful and considerate thing that a husband should do.”
As honest as that may have been for him, the comments proved distasteful to many. Soon, supporters would begin to rally around Tiny on social media with uplifting words while some encouraged the Xscape singer/songwriter to further distance herself from her estranged husband.
T.I.’s sentiments on marriage found its way to Tiny which no doubt affected her. She took to Instagram to express her feelings via a video clip of a social media comedian by the name of @jstlbby, Bossip reports.
“God works in mysterious ways,” she says in the video. “It’s nothing you can hide from God, he knows when we’re on a straight and narrow path and he knows when distractions come and we kinda get sidetracked, but he has a way of putting roadblocks to block the distractions to keep us on that straight path.”
Tiny would soon appear as a guest on Essence’s “Yes, Girl! podcast” where she would get to vent a bit more on the subject as it was still fresh. She did admit that the two still in a good place as T.I. mentioned on Martinez’s show. “We still talk all the time. We’re still together all the time,” she confessed. “I don’t know… it’s a crazy thing. But, we definitely had it out about that. On the show, you’ll see more about it.”
Tiny then reveals within the interview that because they were still relatively close, his comments about marriage being a “distraction” blindsided her. She was then not distracted in pressing him for his hurtful comments on-air.
“I had to [discuss it]…like how could he just …like, a distraction?” said Tiny. What was more hurtful was the fact that he was unable and/or unwilling to fathom why there was an uproar around his statements.
“He cannot understand what in the world did he say that wasn’t right…like, ‘I don’t get it,” she expressed. “I’m like, ‘You don’t get it?’ [He said] ‘Like, I don’t get it. I didn’t say anything bad about you. And I’m like, ‘That doesn’t make sense…That’s a cop-out, pretty much. Like you’re too old for that. A distraction?! Boy, you’ve been married for seven years going on now, and you’ve been in this relationship for 15 years now. Okay? “I don’t see much of a difference from being married from when we wasn’t married. What changed so much?”
It was Tiny’s response to the hosts’ inquiry about dealing with other women who threaten to infiltrate T.I.’s loyalty to his marriage. “It’s crazy because they don’t really care,” Tiny stated. “Women today they don’t really care that it’s just for a night. So how can a man…they keep throwing it and keep throwing it. Like, how are they supposed to stay normal and just faithful when this is going on all day, all night? It’s a lot.”
Just as her husband is usually in the hot-seat for his comments, she too experienced criticism for placing the blame on the other women, rather than her unfaithful husband and his choices. While you tell us your thoughts, check out some Twitter moments aimed at T.I. and Tiny’s cheating scandals.
T.i. got mad that tiny was taking pictures with Floyd while he was actively cheating on her. I could never take any information seriously from a man like that.
— RIP Kobe (@Miya_AngelNO) November 25, 2019
I don’t wanna hear about TI cheating on tiny cuz she ain’t leave him last time so let that man cheat in peace so his wife don’t feel “publicly embarrassed “
— Joan (@slimthatsit) June 18, 2018