T.I. Snatches Mic From Comedian Who Joked About His And Tiny’s Sexual Assault Allegations
T.I. is the latest celebrity to have a run-in with a comedian, snatching a mic after tempers flared following a joke referencing the sexual assault allegations levied against him and his wife, Tiny Harris, in 2021. The incident, which occurred on Monday night (April 4) during an open mic event at Our Bar ATL in Tip’s hometown, was captured on video and surfaced online. The clip begins with T.I. shouting obscenities at the host of the event, comedian Lauren Knight.
“There was no fu*king crime. There is nothing to charge me for, or my wife,” T.I. said to Knight from the audience before interrupting her again. “Shut the fu*k up for a second! Hey, listen. No, no, no. As many times as you joke on that sh*t, n***a, I’m gonna check yo mother f**kin’ ass as long as it takes. N***a, when you stop talking about it, when you stop playing with me and mine, I’ma stop saying something.”
More from VIBE.com
Dreamville Fest Embodied Blackness Like Few Other Music Festivals Can
T.I. Responds To Atlanta Debate Sparked By Omeretta The Great
The Grand Hustler continued on his tirade, adding, “Ain’t no mother fu*king case, ain’t never been no mother fu*king case. ’Cause I ain’t did nothing wrong and my wife ain’t did nothing wrong. And if you keep on playing with me, n***a, I’m gon’ mother fu*kin’ continue to confront you publicly, verbally.”
From there, Knight expressed her belief that the sexual assault allegations against T.I. and his wife were false, as well as acknowledging that no charges were filed against the couple thus far. “T.I. is innocent. I truly believe it,” Knight said. “Give it up for him. There are no charges.”
However, Knight’s olive branch didn’t sit well with Tip, who responded by warning the comedian to “stop playing” with him, which prompted Knight to clap back in her defense, stating that she was only doing her job. “This is not a rap battle. This is a mother f**kin’ comedy show,” she said, as T.I. walked onstage to embrace her. “And be clear, if I want to make jokes about something, I’ll make jokes about something. Absolutely. You’re not going to tell me to shut the fu*k up in my sh*t. This is my sh*t. Let’s be very clear.”
T.I., still onstage alongside Knight, then snatched the mic from her before responding, “No it’s not,” which led to his mic immediately being cut off. Tuesday evening (April 5), Knight took to Instagram to address the exchange, accusing T.I. of interrupting her in the midst of her hosting duties and acting belligerently.
“I’m talking about marriage and sh*t [and] he keeps cutting me off, telling me to ‘shut the fu*k [up],’ calling me all kinds of b*tches—heckling me,” Knight explained. “So, I’m like, ‘Alright, c’mon. Stop playing with me. It’s crazy, like, you keep going and I can’t say nothing to you.”
Yet, it was when T.I. ordered Knight to take her wig off, that she decided that she had had enough and decided to reference the sexual abuse allegations in an attempt to even the score.
“I said, ‘Alright, I’ll take my wig off when you speak on the allegations,” Knight recalled. “Nobody was tight, except for him. Nobody called him a rapist. I responded to him telling me—in a room full of people—to rip my wig off, and made a joke just like he did. So if you gotta a problem with it, not mine.”
T.I.’s encounter with Knight comes a week after Will Smith’s now-infamous slap of comedian Chris Rock at the Oscars following a joke Rock made about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, which has resulted in an overwhelming amount of backlash towards the Best Actor winner.
