On the heels of rapper and actor T.I. declaring that he takes his daughter to the gynaecologist every year in an effort to confirm she’s still a virgin, the 18-year-old seems to be subtly pushing back.
Deyjah Harris has liked several tweets in the past few days that offer strong criticism of her dad, whose real name is Clifford Joseph Harris Jr.
One of the tweets in question calls her father’s actions “disgusting, possessive and controlling”, while another assures her that public comments like his were “never right”.
Over on Instagram, Deyjah – who goes by princess_of_da_south on that platform – appears not to be following her famous dad, as the gossip blog Hollywood Unlocked noted on Monday.
She’s also not following his wife, Tameka “Tiny” Cottle.
However, it’s also not clear whether the teen had ever been following T.I. or Tiny on Instagram to begin with.
Last week, T.I. appeared on the podcast Ladies Like Us and told hosts Nazanin Mandi and Nadia Moham that he goes to the gynaecologist with his daughter after her birthday every year to check that her hymen is still intact.
“I think that most kids, man, in hindsight, looking back, they always thank their parents for not allowing them to damage themselves as much as they could have,” T.I. said in an effort to explain that he does this to protect his daughter.
“This is the thing. Deyjah’s 18, just graduated high school now and she’s attending her first year of college, figuring it out for herself,” he went on. “And yes, not only have we had the [sex] conversation, we have yearly trips to the gynecologist to check her hymen.”
The rapper later added that as of his daughter’s 18th birthday, “her hymen is still intact”.
In response to the revelations, the hosts joked that someone should “check on Deyjah, she’s a prisoner!” They later apologised for how they handled the conversation.
Meanwhile, people on social media were dismayed to hear T.I.’s remarks, with many accusing him of violating his daughter’s privacy and some calling his behaviour sexist and abusive.
Many also questioned the rapper’s logic, pointing out that someone can have an intact hymen and still be sexually active, and someone can have a broken hymen despite never having had sex.
Planned Parenthood issued a series of tweets saying that virginity is a social construct, and noting some of the other ways a hymen can be stretched or broken.