T.I. defends controversial comments about his daughter's hymen being 'intact'

T.I. defended his comments about his daughter's hymen being "intact" while on Facebook's Red Table Talk show.
T.I. defended his comments about his daughter's hymen being "intact" while on Facebook's Red Table Talk show. Photo credit: Red Table Talk/Facebook

Rapper T.I. has defended the controversial comments he made about ensuring his daughter's hymen was "still intact".

On Monday (local time) while on the Red Table Talk Facebook show, he apologised to his 18-year-old daughter Deyjah Harris after previously saying he made her attend annual gynaecologist appointments.

Earlier in November, the father of six told podcast hosts of Ladies Like Us he would take Deyjah for doctor's appointments to "check her hymen" in an attempt to confirm her virginity.

"I will say, as of her 18th birthday, her hymen is still intact," he said.

The hip-hop star said he made a point of taking Deyjah for the visits around her birthday each year.

"Usually, like the day after the party, she's enjoying her gifts. I put a sticky note on the door: 'Gyno. Tomorrow. 9.30'," he said.

T.I. explained that because of patient confidentiality rules, his daughter had to agree to a doctor sharing the results of the exam with her father.

"I'm like, 'Deyjah they want you to sign this so we can share information. Is there anything you wouldn't want me to know? See doc? No problem.'"

The comments caused outrage online, with many social media users saying it was "misogynistic" and "sickening".

T.I. has now said it was a conversation he was having in a "very joking manner" when asked how he deals with parenting.

"I began to embellish and exaggerate. I think that a lot of people kind of took it extremely literal. I honestly thought people knew me better than that," he said.

In October, the rapper caused outrage on his own podcast, ExpediTIously, when he told his wife Tiny Harris: "That little thing you got, that little sex box you got is half mine".