Have there been signs leading up to the T.I. and Tiny divorce that we’ve missed? Forced smiles for the public’s sake? Maybe we’re just reading into their relationship more than we should because we love to eat up the lives of others, to distract us from our own, even more so when they are humbled by drama and rumors, right? We’re reminded that celebrities are people too (!), with lives just as normal, yet, complex as our own.
While both T.I. and Tiny have denied all rumors of either party stepping outside of their marriage, we still need some form of closure to explain their reportedly impending divorce. As though we’re also a part of their family, and refuse to accept that our family is now broken.
Let’s have a look at how T.I. and Tiny’s relationship has grown and developed over the years, while wondering where it all went wrong.
Click through.
Photo Credit: Rick Diamond/Getty Images
2001
It’s been nearly two decades since T.I and Tiny first started down their path together. T.I. wasn’t exactly the King Of the South, just yet, but had just signed his first major label deal with Arista. Tiny, had been a part of the then-successful r’n’b group Xscape, under Jermaine Dupri’s So So Def records. It’s only right that the two met where their passions intersected. T.I. told Global Grind that Tiny paid him no attention one fateful night in the studio, but he knew the moment he saw her that “[she] was the one he been said [he] was going to get all this time.” In the interview, T.I. makes light of the silence between them that night, citing his focus on completing Trap Muzik. Later he recalls their first date at the Three Dollar Cafe, in Atlanta, and teases Tiny about apparently following him to the mall to get his number before their first date.
Long before Netflix and chill was a thing, T.I. recalled driving to Tiny’s, without a license (the lengths we go to for love), in order to watch a movie.
Watch the whole interview below.
2004
Not too long after the two had started dating officially, they welcomed their first child together, Clifford "King" Joseph Harris III, on August 25, 2004.
2007
T.I. has had issues with that law in the past. In 2007, he caught a case after he attempted to purchase unregistered machine guns from his bodyguard-turned-federal agent informant, which lead to him serving seven months in Arkansas. Throughout his arrests and court battles, though, Tiny was always there, not even the confines of a prison could keep them apart.
2008
Amidst the legal issues the Harris family still had a lot of life to celebrate; specifically the birth of their second child, Major Philant Harris, born May 16th 2008.
Bringing the total of their household to 6 at that time, including Deyjah, Domani, Messiah, and Zonnique, who were born outside of the T.I. and Tiny union but still regarded very much as if their own.
2010
After about 10 years of being together, T.I. and Tiny finally said their vows on July 30st, 2010, in Miami. Keeping the ceremony to only friends and family, T.I. and Tiny arrived in a horse drawn “Cinderella Carriage” while fireworks went off overhead-- as you can only imagine, that night was a movie.
2011
January
In January 2011, T.I. was serving an 11-month term for violating the terms of his probation, stemming from an arrest for the illegal possession Ecstasy (Tiny was with him at the time of arrest). Tiny revealed to TMZ how their regularly scheduled visit turned into more of a conjugal visit, for which T.I. was immediately moved to a “Special Housing Unit.”
September
In September 2011, T.I. was released from prison a month early, and the announcement of his VH1 family series “T.I. and Tiny: The Hustle Family,” quickly followed. The series would continue for a total of six seasons, following the life and times of the T.I. and Tiny’s large family, before finally coming to an end this past year.
2014
October
Words are not enough to validate our actions when the media and internet paint pictures of a singular moment. This is the case when T.I. accused Tiny of cheating with Floyd Mayweather, after images surfaced of the two at a Halloween party.
The two discussed it over dinner on an episode of T.I and Tiny: The Family Hustle. When confronted about her association with Mayweather, Tiny responded by reminding T.I. of his own infidelities, which lead her to getting a house elsewhere. But T.I. pressed on, "You done had yo' s**t where you was out with this motherf**kin' dude you know I don't f**k with." But at what point do we stop believing the whole story in favor of a moment? Tiny went on to elaborate on the situation, “We wasn't together! Don't speak on it as though you know what you're talking about, like, 'I know 100 percent she slept with [bleep],'" she said. "How do you know that? 'Cause you seen me dancing? You don't know... “
In retrospect does T.I. regret telling Tiny she could have whatever she likes?
May
Even a beautiful rose soon wilts. We watched as T.I. and Tiny’s marriage was put through the test; eavesdropping at the table behind, sipping our tea, as the two’s relationship began to grow rocky. In May 2014, we saw things fall through the cracks -- T.I. fueled rumors of infidelity, after pictures of him and Alexis Lacey were uploaded onto her Instagram page. T.I. was adamant he did not cheat on his wifey, though.
It seems as though moving past the Floyd Mayweather situation was not an option for T.I., later in the month of May the two we’re involved in an altercation that took place on the Las Vegas. T.I. reportedly took a swing at Mayweather while in a Fatburger, causing a brawl to erupt within the restaurant.
Mayweather can even be heard telling T.I. to “control his bitch.”
July
In a press conference in July of 2014, Mayweather was asked about the T.I./Tiny situation. He reportedly said at first, “don’t talk to me about that bitch,” in reference to Tiny, before admitting, “I was fuckin his [T.I.] bitch.” Mayweather soon took Instagram to respond following the press conference, claiming that he was misquoted -- he later removed the post entirely.
2016
Welcoming the birth of Heiress Diana Harris on march 26th, 2016, made her the 7th addition to the Grand Hustle family, T.I. and Tiny couldn’t have seemed anymore connected, at least, from our side of the television screen. However, rumors had been building for some time that the two parents weren't as happy as they might seem -- and finally Tiny pulled the trigger, filing for divorce. The decision to do this was long coming, as Tiny revealed to her daughter, Zonnique, on T.I. and Tiny: The Family Hustle.
"Things are going nowhere so I'm ready to get things moving and if it's going in that direction then I'm ready to move in that direction," she said.
2017
January
With T.I. and Tiny’s more than large family, we couldn’t help but wonder how the children we’re taking the news. T.I gave us answers to this question in his first time speaking out about the divorce, while on Dish Nation. Perhaps a too-cheery reply, he said, “The kids are great. They had a phenomenal Christmas. Baby's phenomenal. Everybody's doing great.”
March
With rumors circulating that Bernice Burgos was T.I. “side chick,” Tiny took to Instagram to respond to a fan, on Burgos’ page, stating “I aint losing sleep over no pass around bitch! Bless him and bless her too!!”
Tiny’s remarks did not go unaddressed by Burgos who responded with a series of snapchat videos saying “Never been a 'pass around b*tch,' never. Never did. Always kept myself. N*ggas respect me out in these streets.”
T.I. remained silent on this situation, asking others to do the same.
July
T.I. filed a counter-suit against Tiny in July. T.I. is reportedly seeking his own terms for the divorce, in response to Tiny seeking primary physical custody and joint legal custody of their three children, and requiring he hand over all of his financial records of their joint money and investment accounts.
Although the current status of their marriage is in a state of limbo, T.I. took the time to share wedding pictures and wish Tiny a happy wedding anniversary, seven years later, just this past week. This isn’t the only sign of a good-natured relationship between the two -- T.I. and Tiny’s co-parenting tactics make them seem as though they are on their way to being a family once more, given that they were seen vacationing as a family in the Bahamas.
Still, Bernice Burgos stirred the pot ever so slightly, once again, just the other week, when she visited The Breakfast Club. When discussing T.I. and Tiny, Burgos stated, "social media, sometimes, will put you in a place [where] you have to fight with people you don't know." Responding as to why she replied to Tiny on social media in the first place, Burgos claimed to have been to caught up on the lies across social media.
Both T.I. and Tiny want everyone outside of their relationship to mind their own business (sorry, I guess). Regardless of what they are going through, we see they still are there for each other. Case in point: while T.I. and Tiny were celebrating the memory of their wedding anniversary on social media, one fan decided to speak out in the comments, calling Tip a “cheater.” Tiny came to the defense of T.I by clapping back and telling the hater to “grow up & get the hate out your blood.”
We can’t help but want to see them together at the end of the day, but only time will tell where T.I and Tiny end up in their relationship.