Deyjah Harris, who was left 'embarrassed' when her father revealed in 2019 that he took her to gynecologist every year to check if she's still a virgin, praises the rapper for being 'so real' on Father's Day.
- Jun 17, 2024
AceShowbiz - T.I.'s daughter Deyjah Harris is apparently grateful for her father's advice on keeping her virginity, years after his gynecologist comments. Celebrating Father's Day, the 23-year-old admitted that her father is "right" for advising her to keep her "sugar."
On Sunday, June 16, Deyjah took to her Instagram Story to share a clip of T.I. sharing a message to her younger self about boys chasing after her. A young Deyjah looked confused at first before her father explained his message by seemingly using "sugar" to illustrate her virginity.
In the caption of the clip, Deyjah wrote, "he still says this till this very day and honestly he's right." She added, "I make sure to tell myself every year 'keep your sugar' because of him, he's so real for putting me on game."
T.I. came under fire in 2019 after he revealed on the "Ladies Like Us" podcast that he takes his daughter Deyjah to gynaecologist every year to check her virginity and make sure her hymen is intact. "Deyjah's 18, just graduated high school now and she's attending her first year of college, figuring it out for herself. And yes, not only have we had the conversation, we have yearly trips to the gynecologist to check her hymen," he said on the podcast.
T.I.'s revelation sparked some backlash on social media, with feminist icon Gloria Steinem branding his action as violating human rights. "It is not his hymen, it is not his body," she told TMZ. "He doesn't have any right to do that... You can't invade a child's body for anything other than a medical emergency or a medical reason."
Deyjah unfollowed her father on social media following his comments. In a June 2020 episode of "T.I. & Tiny: Friends and Family Hustle", she admitted that her father's comments made her "uncomfortable."
"Things are completely uncomfortable for me right now," she said. "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 'cause I just knew. My heart sank - very shocked, hurt, angry, embarrassed," she confided to her cousins. "I mean, honestly, I'm embarrassed, definitely, for sure."
The father-daughter duo have since patching things up, with T.I. apologizing to his daughter on the reality show. "I realize how inappropriate the conversation about Deyjah on the podcast may have been and I hold myself accountable and take full responsibility," T.I. admitted. "I was wrong. I am willing to accept full accountability, one hundred percent, for everything I may have said that shouldn't have been said."
"I apologize to Deyjah. You know I love you. You know I've always gone above and beyond to do everything and anything possible to make you happy and keep you protected. However, I must now acknowledge the fact that you've now become a young lady. I understand that. Some lessons are harder than others, but the important thing is - make sure you get the lesson," he continued.
