T.I., Tiny’s $71M win cut to $18M after judge throws out $53M in punitive damages in OMG Dolls case

A judge cut T.I. and Tiny’s $71M award in OMG Dolls case to $18M, giving them a choice: accept $1 in punitive damages or go back to trial.

Last year, a California jury awarded rapper T.I. and his wife Tameka “Tiny” Harris $71 million after a years-long trial against toy manufacturer MGA Entertainment for an intellectual property violation. However, a year later, the couple may be going back to trial after U.S. District Court Judge James V. Selna’s ruling this week noted that a large portion of that award ($53.6 million in punitive damages) was unsupported by evidence. 

“The maximum punitive damages award sustainable by the proof is $1,” Judge Selna said, per Rolling Stone. 

The lawsuit, dating back to 2020, was filed against the manufacturer for their “L.O.L.” collection of “OMG” dolls, which T.I. and Tiny claim stole the image and likeness of members from the OMG Girlz, a musical group they created over a decade ago, which included their daughter Zonnique. When the jury found that the manufacturer misappropriated the girl group’s image, name, and likeness, T.I. and Tiny were awarded $17.9 million in compensatory damages and $53.6 million in punitive damages. 

“It was a fight. It was a hell of a fight,” Tiny said following the verdict as previously reported by theGrio. “We couldn’t be more happy…We wanted to thank the jurors for just seeing us through this, and just believing in what we said. They heard our story and they knew we wasn’t lying. It’s amazing.”

Now, Judge Selna is offering the couple two options: accept the $1 in punitive damages + $17.9 million in compensatory damages or proceed with a new trial. According to T.I. and Tiny’s lawyer, John Keville, the couple is “considering” their next steps but plans to reject the $1. 

“We are considering our options as to next steps — but if in the end there is another mini-trial on just the punitive damages, we expect another jury will be similarly offended by MGA’s maliciousness and copying,” Keville told Rolling Stone. “The court’s order confirms what the jury found, that there was more than sufficient evidence to find MGA wrongly misappropriated and infringed the OMG Girlz’ rights. Obviously, the Harrises and the OMG Girlz are very disappointed that the jury’s appropriate assessment and response to MGA’s willful and bad faith conduct was discounted and not given the same weight.”