T.I. was arrested for disorderly conduct, public drunkenness, and simple assault last Wednesday when he got into an argument with his gated community’s security guard, who refused to let him in without a key. T.I. told TMZ in West Hollywood last night that he's now adamant that somebody involved in last week’s affairs pay up and claim responsibility for jeopardizing his hard-earned image as a trustworthy citizen and responsible business partner.
Tip quickly made it clear that while he appreciates the thought behind Care2’s online petition to get his misdemeanor charges dropped, he has more pressing issues at hand. “That’s the least of my concerns,” he said. “People who fought fair cases don’t lose no sleep over no misdemeanor, especially when they’re trumped up. But I appreciate the thought! That’s a kind gesture.”
You can see how aggravating it must be for someone like Tip—who worked his ass off to leave his life of crime behind and form a stable, responsible, financially-viable image—to be dragged back through the mud, particularly if he was genuinely not responsible for anything nefarious of the sort. It probably felt terrible, when during his arrest, a police officer told him he was “acting like a fool” simply for questioning the integrity of his arrest.
In terms of the parties involved in his detainment last week, T.I. has some demands. “What they can do, is figure out between the parties involved, who is gonna hold themselves accountable and accept responsibility for the retribution that must be paid due,” he said. “I spent a lot of time reconstructing my image from my past transgressions, so I could do deals with other corporations, and then you throw me out there like I’m just drunk and beating up on people, and that ruins future other possible opportunities for me.”
This is an extremely simple matter for the man, and one rooted not only in his business savviness, but his integrity as a person. “If you take money out my table, it can’t be whole again until you replace it,” he explained. “So who gon’ replace it, is the question, and that’s all. I don’t care which one it is, they can put their heads together and come up with what they come up with. Come holla at me, man.”
