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T.I. and Tameka "Tiny" Harris' multimillion-dollar judgment payment from their years-long legal battle against MGA Entertainment could be slashed by a judge.
In a new filing submitted on Monday, January 6, Judge James Selna considered reducing the toymaker's payment to the Harris family from $71 million to $17.8 Million. Judge Selna proposed to cut the $53.6 million in punitive damages because he believes there isn't enough evidence to show bad faith on MGA's part.
"Upon consideration of the evidence, the Court grants disgorgement of profits of $17,872,252 under common law misappropriation, but does not award punitive damages," Judge Selna wrote.
Tip and Tiny won the $71 million judgment after a jury found that MGA Entertainment MGA Entertainment used the likeness of OMG Girlz, a musical group Tiny formed in 2009, to make LOL Surprise! OMG Dolls without "any compensation, recognition or consent," per the Los Angeles Times. MGA reportedly had plans to launch a line of dolls inspired by the girl group but never finalized any deals with Harris' Pretty Hustle or T.I.'s Grand Hustle. MGA debuted their OMG Dolls in 2019, which looked almost identical to the OMG Girlz.
The Harris family went to trial in January 2023 but the proceedings ended in a mistrial. MGA was victorious following a second trial last May, but Tip and Tiny were granted a retrial several months later. The final trial happened last September in Santa Ana, Calif., and lasted for three weeks. AS of this report, Judge Selna hasn't made a final decision for the Harris' judgment.
“There’s a lot to contemplate," the judge said, per legal reporter Meghann Cuniff. "I want to put this down for a couple days, and I want to come back to it fresh from the top."