The Xscape star comes under fire for trying to raise money for Miami bodyguard Cornell Whitfield, who has been sentenced to one year in jail for protecting the 'Heart Attack' crooner.
- Oct 25, 2023
AceShowbiz - Tiny Harris a.k.a. Tameka Cottle's sympathy for Trey Songz's bodyguard is not well appreciated by some social media users. The singer has landed in hot water after asking for a $60,000 donation to help get the imprisoned bodyguard out of jail.
Making use of her platform, the wife of T.I. shared a link to a GoFundMe page while writing in an Instagram post, "We are asking for your help... $60k is what we are trying to raise to bring Champ back to the states."
Defending the bodyguard, she added, "This situation is unfortunate and he does not deserve to be treated any kind of way for doing his job. He is a family man and a loving father who deserves to be with his loved ones."
People quickly slammed Tiny for turning to her followers to ask for donation instead of trying to collect the money from her "rich" friends. One person asked, "So between her, tip and trigga they couldn't give 20k each."
Another suggested, "Baby send that message to your group they got it we tryna afford groceries." A third claimed, "It's disrespectful to flex Rolls Royce's and million Dollar watches and then ask us for 60k," as another remarked, "Rich people asking 9 to 5 people for donations is crazy."
Someone pointed out that it's the bodyguard's employer who "needs to get him out!" Agreeing, another person weighed in, "It's TREY bodyguard that's locked up for protecting HIM, make HIM pay it lmao that ain't our problem we heading towards WW3 right now."
Apparently catching wind of the negative comments, Tiny has since removed the post from her account.
The said bodyguard, Cornell Whitfield, was sentenced to a year in a Dubai jail after he stepped in to protect Trey from a crazed fan. The 40-year-old reportedly put himself in front of the artist to stop a man attempting to confront the R&B singer as they left their five-star hotel to go to a club back in March.
The "aggressive" hotel guest reportedly approached Trey and his group, shouting, swearing and waving his arms. In his defense, the Miami bodyguard said he was "only doing [his] job" when he tapped the man's face in order to deescalate the situation, which was caught on hotel cameras.
Cornell, who has also worked as Lil' Kim's personal bodyguard, said he didn't think much about the incident and flew back to the U.S. Several months later, when he returned to Dubai in August, he was arrested for the past incident.
Cornell was subsequently booked on an assault charge after the man filed a criminal complaint against him. The bodyguard reportedly has to pay the man $60,000 to have the charges thrown out, but because he's unable to make the payment, he was sentenced to a year in jail. He is currently out on bail, but is not allowed to leave the United Arab Emirates.
