T.I. received major backlash when he revealed during a podcast that he regularly has a doctor check his daughter’s hymen to confirm her virginity, and now the female hosts of the show apologized for not immediately calling him out and have deleted the episode.
The “Ladies Like Us” podcast hosts Nazanin Mandi and Nadia Moham issued a statement Thursday admitting they should not have laughed following the rapper’s comments about the long-debunked practice denounced by medical professionals during the Nov. 5 podcast.
“To everyone confused, angry and hurt by the recent episode of ‘Ladies Like Us’, we want to start off by saying that we sincerely apologize for our knee jerk reaction to the uncomfortable topic,” the hosts wrote on Instagram. “We were completely caught off guard/shocked and looking back, we should have reacted much differently in the moment.”
RAPPER T.I. SAYS HE ACCOMPANIES HIS DAUGHTER TO THE GYNECOLOGIST EVERY YEAR TO ENSURE SHE’S A VIRGIN
Mandi and Moham deleted the podcast Thursday after being flooded with one-star reviews from angry commenters on Apple Podcasts, BuzzFeed reports. Fans and other celebrities immediately went on the attack via Twitter, calling the Atlanta-based rapper “disgusting,” “possessive,” “controlling” and just plain uninformed about the long-debunked theory that an intact hymen indicates virginity.
“The comments that were made and the reaction that followed are not in any way a reflection of our personal views on the topic,” Mandi and Moham added. “We support and love Women and feel that their bodies are theirs to do as they wish. There was absolutely no ill intent towards any party involved & [we] feel deeply awful about the entire incident.”
They continued: “We are not perfect, take full accountability of our lack of action & are continuously learning along the way. We know an apology doesn’t make this go away but we welcome the discussion — that’s what our podcast is about.”
The rapper, 39, bragged during the podcast that he’s positive his 18-year-old daughter Deyjah Harris is still a virgin because they ‘have yearly trips to the gynecologist to check her hymen.”
“I will say, as of her 18th birthday, her hymen is still intact,” he said.
However, the World Health Organization (WHO) has said “there is no place for virginity (or ‘two-finger’) testing” because “it has no scientific validity.” WHO also acknowledged that the practice is “a violation of the human rights of girls and women” and can be “detrimental to women’s and girls’ physical, psychological and social well-being.”
T.I. also discussed how he convinces his daughter to waive her privacy rights during her gynecological exams.
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“[The doctor is] like, ‘You know, sir, I have to, in order to share information’ — I’m like, ‘Deyjah, they want you to sign this so we can share information,” he said. “Is there anything you would not want me to know? See, Doc? Ain’t no problem.’”
