Rapper T.I. and his wife, Tameka “Tiny” Harris, returned to a California courtroom Tuesday for their third attempt to seek millions of dollars from a toy company they claim stole the look and “whole image” of the OMG Girlz, a girl band the couple founded in 2009 and co-own.
In his opening statement, the couple’s attorney said toy maker MGA Entertainment became “willfully in violation” of the girl group’s colorful hairstyles, fashions and signature style when it designed several models in its “LOL Surprise! OMG” line of wide-eyed, sophisticated dolls. Attorney John Keevil said his clients deserve an award “somewhere in the $17 million to $25 million range,” and said jurors should expect MGA to engage in “character assassination” of T.I., the musician known for pioneering the trap music genre as well as his various legal troubles.
When it came to his turn, MGA’s attorney said the toy company was a victim of extortion. “This is nothing more than a money grab and a family scam,” MGA attorney Paul J. Loh told the jury, which had been selected hours earlier.
As he left court Tuesday afternoon, T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, said he was at peace despite Loh casting him as a central figure in the case. In his opening, Loh played multiple clips of T.I.’s videotaped testimony, which showed the Atlanta rapper wearing sunglasses inside the home and repeatedly singing “I don’t know” as an answer. The attorney noted that T.I. was not interested in the “details” and “facts” of the high-profile case.
“I’m calm. I’m here to support my wife, daughter and sisters. I’m proud of them for standing up for their intellectual property,” said TI. Rolling Stone As he walked out of the Santa Ana, California, courtroom, he was flanked by Tiny and her daughter Zonnique Pullins — a founding member of the OMG Girlz — and the group's other two members, Bahja “Beauty” Rodriguez and Breonna “Baby Doll” Womack.
The case is familiar to the presiding judge, U.S. District Judge James V. Selna. The trial first began in January 2023, but ended in a mistrial when jurors heard banned testimony accusing the gaming company of “racist cultural appropriation.”
The case went to its second trial in the spring of 2023, where a jury awarded victory to MGA Entertainment and its billionaire founder Isaac Larian. T.I. and Tiny were granted a retrial in September 2023 after the Supreme Court ruled in June 2023 that the First Amendment does not necessarily protect a dog toy company that made a funny chew toy in the shape and style of a Jack Daniel’s whiskey bottle. Justice Elena Kagan’s opinion sent a message that consumer confusion should carry more weight than previously thought in such trademark infringement cases involving expressive works.
In the OMG Girlz lawsuit, T.I. and Tiny claim that 31 dolls in MGA’s “LOL Surprise! OMG” line infringe on their group’s trademark image, but their attorney said Tuesday he plans to narrow the case to fewer than 10 dolls that “have very close associations” with “specific public events and fashions” associated with the OMG Girlz. “We’re trying to be fair and conservative and just in this,” Keevil told the jury. However, he noted that MGA has generated $340 million in revenue and $100 million in profits from the 31 dolls that were initially at issue in the lawsuit.
MGA’s attorney used his opening remarks to point out that MGA had been making Bratz and Moxy Girls dolls with brightly colored hair and rock star hairstyles between 2007 and 2009, long before the “LOL Surprise! OMG” line launched in the summer of 2019. He showed jurors photos of musicians including Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj and “even Cyndi Lauper from the ’80s,” saying their brightly colored hair and vibrant, layered outfits from before 2019 demonstrated “the age of this style.” Loh then showed a photo of the rock group Kiss, saying they had a “distinctive look” that was instantly recognizable because of its consistency. He said the OMG Girls had changed their look dramatically over the years.
The legal battle behind the lawsuit began when T.I. and Tiny’s attorneys sent a demand letter to MGA in December 2020 stating that the couple, through their companies Grand Hussle and Pretty Hussle, believed that the OMG Girlz’s intellectual property rights had been infringed upon. In response, MGA filed a preemptive lawsuit asking the court to intervene and assert ownership of the name and likeness of their dolls. T.I. and Tiny then filed their own cross-complaint, alleging that MGA misappropriated the name, likeness and “merchandising dress” of the group’s OMG Girlz dolls and used them in videos, live performances, red carpet appearances and brief appearances on T.I. and Tiny’s reality TV shows on BET and VH1.
“We feel very happy about it,” OMG Girlz member Breonna Womack said as she left the courtroom Tuesday. Rolling Stone“I look forward to telling our story.”
