EXCLUSIVE: T.I. Demands Reality Show Footage NOT Be Shown in Trial w/ Ex-Restaurant Employees

T.I. – Demands Reality Show Footage NOT Be Shown in Trial w/ Ex-Restaurant Employees

theJasmineBRAND exclusively reports, T.I. asking a judge to not allow footage from his reality show to be used in his upcoming trial with ex restaurant employees. theJasmineBRAND broke the story, back in 2016, 12 former employees of T.I.’s Atlanta restaurant Scales 925 sued him and his business partner Charles Hughes.

The employees claimed they were screwed out of wages and never paid overtime. They also alleged that their paychecks bounced and their employers were asked to work off the clock without being compensated.  The suit demanded back pay, unpaid overtime money, in excess of $50k in damages.

T.I. At Scales 925, Photo: Instagram

T.I. denied any wrongdoing and demanded the lawsuit be tossed out of court. He said he wasn’t responsible for the day-to-day operations for the restaurant. The judge responded, denying his motion to dismiss and the case is headed to trial.

On April 11th, T.I. filed docs pleading with the judge to exclude videos of him from the trial.

Mr. Harris respectively moves that this Court exclude from evidence the following proposed Plaintiffs’ exhibits, each of which appear to be promotional type or entertainment videos. As a general matter, they are consistent with the prior testified role that Mr. Harris played with respect to the restaurant operations: he was its celebrity face used for marketing purposes.

He explains the plaintiffs intend to introduce clips from his VH1 reality show

This exhibit is an episode of Mr. Harris’s television show called, “TI and Tiny: The Family Hustle.” (“Tiny” is the nickname for Tameka Cottle, Harris’s wife.) The television show is produced for the purpose of entertainment. In the show, two of Mr. Harris’s sons mention the restaurant and essentially express their belief that restaurant work is easy. Harris discusses briefly with viewers that he just opened a restaurant and comments that it is the “hardest work I ever encountered in my life.” The remaining parts of the video related to the restaurant (some of the video is related to Tiny and other matters) reflect Harris at Scales 925 with his three sons and a daughter. The children are each given a role to play – one pretends he is a waiter, one heads to the kitchen, one pretends he is the manager, and one plays host. Harris checks on the kids occasionally and comments on their progress (or lack of it), and towards the end of the show, he walks down some stairs carrying “TO-GO” boxes. During the piece, Harris does not talk to any employees, much less direct them or manage them in restaurant related business.

Indeed, during the restaurant scenes, he is wearing shorts, a t-shirt and
tennis shoes and clearly he is there for the purpose recording the
show (and picking up take-out food). He never mentions the management
structure of the restaurant, does not discuss ownership of the
restaurant, does not discuss the Vibe agreement, or the LLC’s, or any
other information relevant to his duties relating to the restaurant.
The show is for the purpose of entertainment and clearly it was used
as a vehicle to promote to fans of the show and create a fun episode
of Harris’ family life.

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