T.I. in Ant-Man
Earlier today, a lawyer representing 11 people filed criminal inquiries into T.I. and his wife, Tameka “Tiny” Harris, for alleged abuses that include sexual assault, kidnapping, drugging, and false imprisonment. Now, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that the 40-year-old rapper will not be returning in Marvel’s Ant-Man 3.
In both the 2015 Ant-Man feature and its 2018 sequel Ant-Man and The Wasp, the rapper and actor born Clifford Harris had a supporting role as a character named Dave who assisted Paul Rudd’s Scott Lang (aka Ant-Man) in his superhero exploits. THR has learned that T.I. not part of the cast of the series’ third installment, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but it’s unclear if his departure is related to the recent accusations.
Because the film remains in the development stage, the script is still in a place where side characters such as T.I.’s Dave can be easily removed from the storyline altogether. Therefore, it’s possible that Marvel had already chosen to write his part out before he and Tiny were accused of horrendous acts of sexual assault back in January, and then again today.
According to an extensive New York Times report, the lawyer of the 11 victims, Tyrone A. Blackburn, said that “eerily similar” events took place between 2005 and 2017 that either involved T.I., Tiny, or a members of their entourage. The Times was able to speak with a few of the victims, and their stories are horrendous.
One woman alleges that back in 2005, her and a friend met T.I. and Tiny at a club, where their drinks were spiked with drugs that incapacitated both of them. The woman says the couple took her to their room and raped her while her friend vomited in the bathroom for hours. Another woman says that when she used to work for the couple, T.I. and Tiny would force her to take ecstasy and perform nonconsensual sexual acts with other women. She also says that she witnessed other women being held against their will for days at a time.
The couple have shared a statement through their lawyer denying all of the allegations and calling them “a sordid shakedown campaign that began on social media and now attempts to manipulate the press and misuse the justice system.”
In addition to T.I.s departure from Ant-Man, VH1 recently halted the production of the couple’s reality show, T.I. & Tiny: Friends & Family Hustle, after their former family friend, Sabrina Peterson, said that she collected stories from dozens of women who allege that the couple sexually assaulted, drugged, and/or gave them incurable STD’s. According to Blackburn, none of the people who shared their stories with Peterson are among the 11 he’s currently representing.
Like the previous two Ant-Man films, 3 will be directed by Peyton Reed and once again star Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer. The film has also cast Lovecraft Country’s Jonathan Majors to play Marvel’s latest supervillain, Kang the Conqueror. Additionally, the script is being handled by Rick and Morty writer Jeff Loveless.