Prior to the publication's apology, the rapper and actor goes on an Instagram Live to blast the gossip site and accuses it of tarnishing his late sister Precious Harris' legacy.
- Jun 7, 2019
AceShowbiz - T.I. just couldn't sit still when TMZ published an article about his late sister Precious Harris' cause of death. The rapper and actor quickly took to his social media account to take a shot at the famed gossip site, prompting it to issue an apology to him and his family.
In a since-deleted article, TMZ reported that Precious died "from cocaine toxicity which aggravated hypertensive cardiovascular disease (high blood pressure)." Not pleased with the news, T.I. then went on an Instagram Live to blast the publication, accusing it of tarnishing his sister's legacy. In addition to that, he called for a boycott of the outlet.
Calling out TMZ's managing director Harvey Levin, T.I. said during his live session, "As long as you've known me, Harvey, I've been respectful, I've been cordial, I been polite, I been kind, I been fair. You just burned that bridge." The 38-year-old added, "I hope your story was worth it. You just burned a bridge. To not just me, but everybody around me. All my family. Anybody who stand with me, anybody who stood with Precious will not stand with you."
Following the criticism, TMZ removed its earlier report and replaced it with an apology to both T.I. and his family, calling the previous story "inappropriate and wrong." The latest article read, "We were wrong to do it. T.I. and his family are hurt and furious, and they have a point...Precious was only peripherally involved in T.I. and Tiny's reality show, and wasn't in the spotlight as a celebrity. We got this wrong and we regret posting the M.E.'s findings."
Precious was involved in a fatal crash after she suffered an asthma attack while driving his little brother's Dodge Avenger with grandniece Kairi Chapman in February of this year. She died about a week later when her family decided to remove her life support.
