T.I. is facing a new intellectual property theft lawsuit regarding the title of his upcoming film, Situationships. Cylla Senii, owner of the production company, Featherstone Entertainment, claims the rapper allegedly stole the name from her own project, according to Billboard.
Senii helmed two seasons of a scripted web series also titled, Situationships. It launched on YouTube in 2016, but is currently distributed by BET Digital, Amazon Prime, and Tubi. Additionally, she says that she was in the process of developing a TV show and movie version of Situationships between 2019 and 2024.
It was at the end of this period of time that she learned T.I. and his company, Grand Hustle Films, were making a comedy by the same name. She believes the alleged infringement is intentional, noting that one of her collaborators on her Situationships show is a close friend of T.I.’s family and a producer with whom she discussed the idea is now working on T.I.'s version.
“Defendants are engaging in a common scheme and effort to take advantage of the public’s association of Featherstone’s ‘Situationships’ brand by marketing their own film and entitling it ‘Situationships,’” Senii’s attorney writes in the lawsuit.
T.I. & Tiny's OMG Girlz Lawsuit
At one point in Senii's lawsuit, her attorneys reference T.I. and his wife Tameka “Tiny” Harris’ recent $71 million trial win against toymaker MGA. They accused the company of making dolls by stealing the intellectual property of their teen pop group, OMG Girlz.
“Unfortunately, T.I. is engaging in the same conduct he fought so vigorously to protect himself from in his own intellectual property lawsuit,” the filing adds.
All-in-all, Senii is accusing both T.I. and Grand Hustle Films of alleged trademark infringement, unfair competition and civil conspiracy. In turn, she wants an injunction to bar them from releasing the movie under the name “Situationships." She also listed unspecified financial damages.
