T.I.’s daughter opens up about her dad’s comments on OBGYN visits

Rapper T.I. made headlines in November for controversial comments he made about his teenage daughter. While appearing on the Ladies Like Us podcast, the Atlanta native said that he accompanies his teenage daughter Deyjah Harris to her annual gynecologist appointments for ‘hymen checks.’ Now Harris is speaking out about the impact of her father’s statements.The controversy hit during a family vacation and the aftermath of T.I.’s comments were captured during this week’s episode of T.I. & Tiny: Friends and Family Hustle. Speaking directly to the camera in a confessional, Harris said "Things are completely uncomfortable for me right now. We're all together in this house, so I have to see my dad and be around him. And we're in a foreign country, so it's not like I can leave and get away."The 18-year-old said that she found out about her father’s comments while looking at social media. "I'm scrolling on Twitter, and I see that I've been tagged in a post. The only word that I saw was 'gynecologist' and I didn't even need to read the whole title because I just knew,” said Harris. “My heart sank."Harris received support from her cousins while on vacation, admitting that she felt embarrassed.  “I'm trying to push it in the back of my mind. So, I'm not really thinking about it, but I've been doing that since I was a child, that stuff with him. It's definitely been going on since probably 14 or 15."Acknowledging that her father treats her differently on matters of sex and supervision in comparison to her brothers, Harris said that her relationship with her father will likely be different following the podcast. "I just don't really care to be around him right now. Our relationship, I'm gonna look at it differently,” said a tearful Harris. "This situation is just a little traumatizing for me." During T.I.’s November appearance on the podcast, the rapper said “I will say, as of her 18th birthday, her hymen is still intact.” Pressuring his daughter to waive her right to privacy during the medical visits, T.I. continued, saying “[The doctor is] like, ‘You know, sir, I have to, in order to share information’ — I’m like, ‘Deyjah, they want you to sign this so we can share information. Is there anything you would not want me to know? See, Doc? Ain’t no problem.’”T.I.’s comments sparked outrage and shone a light on the terrifying reality that many young women in the US and around the world face with invasive hymen-testing. T.I.’s comments also brought about a much-needed lesson on sexual health. Planned Parenthood quickly weighed in on Twitter, providing a Sex Ed refresher and making it clear that there is no physical test that can confirm whether someone has had penetrative sex.T.I. later tried to downplay his comments, appearing on Red Table Talk with wife Tameka ‘Tiny’ Harris, who is Deyjah’s stepmother. “I began to embellish and exaggerate, and I think a lot of people, kind of like, took it extremely literal. If you look at any of my reputation, who I am as a father, I honestly thought that people would know me better than that,” said T.I., telling host Jada Pinkett-Smith that he is learning from the situation and trying to understand the sensitivity around the subject. “I understand it now, absolutely, however my intentions, I think, have been terribly misconstrued and misconceived.”