Rapper T.I. And Wife Tiny Win $71 Million In Lawsuit Against Maker Of L.O.L. Surprise Dolls—The Case, Explained
by Mary Whitfill Roeloffs · ForbesTopline
Rapper T.I. and his wife Tameka “Tiny” Harris have won a $71 million lawsuit against the maker of the popular L.O.L. Surprise! dolls after alleging the brand's line of “O.M.G.” dolls copied the likeness of members of the now-defunct OMG Girlz, a teen pop group founded by the pair 15 years ago that included Harris’ daughter.
Key Facts
After a three-week trial, a federal jury in Orange County, California ruled toy conglomerate MGA Entertainment violated the intellectual property rights of the OMG Girlz with seven of its dolls, after T.I. and Tiny's lawyer accused the company of "bullying and misrepresentations."
The damages awarded to the couple include $17.8 million in real damages—the profit the company said it made on the dolls in question—and $53.6 million in punitive damages.
Throughout the trial, the three original members of the OMG Girlz (Harris’ daughter Zonnique “Star” Pullins, as well as Bahja "Beauty" Rodriguez and Breaunna "Babydoll" Womack) reportedly testified that the dolls copied the band members' looks from specific public events, and attorneys cited social media posts from fans who assumed the dolls were inspired by the band because they looked so similar.
MGA argued the company did not misappropriate the identity of the music group, the dolls would not be mistaken for the "short-lived" band (the OMG Girlz broke up in 2015) and the group suffered no actual harm or lost business opportunities.
The latest lawsuit is the third time T.I. and Tiny have tried to sue over the dolls, claiming MGA Entertainment stole the look of a group of “young multicultural women" and committed "cultural appropriation and outright theft" with their product (the first case ended in a mistrial and the second ended in a win for MGA before the verdict was overturned on appeal).
MGA Entertainment can still appeal the most recent verdict, though representatives did not immediately respond to Forbes’ request for comment on the company’s plans Tuesday.
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Key Background
MGA launched the L.O.L. Surprise! (short for "Li'l Outrageous Littles") line of dolls in December of 2016. The dolls tapped into the "unboxing" phenomenon that was taking over kids’ content on YouTube at the time and saw young creators opening toys or other products online, capturing the packaging and the creator's reaction in real time. The L.O.L. Surprise! Dolls were billed as the ultimate unboxing experience—kids were able to peel back seven layers of surprise packaging one at a time, with each revealing a sticker, charms, shoes or accessory and, ultimately, a collectable doll. Consumers weren’t able to tell which doll would be inside from the packaging—buyers had to purchase and open them to find out—and they sold for as little as $7 each. Within five months of launch, L.O.L. Surprise! became the top-selling doll in the country with more than 2.5 million units sold, according to market research firm The NPD Group. The company then released other related lines of L.O.L. Surprise! toys including the O.M.G. line Three video games have been released based on the toys and Netflix released two original animated movies.
Tangent
Harris, known professionally as Tiny, was a member of the R&B vocal group Xscape in the 1990s and won a Grammy Award for her writer's credits on TLC's hit song "No Scrubs." She formed the OMG Girlz in 2009 with Pullins and Rodriguez and signed the band to her Pretty Hustle record label in 2011, after adding Womack as the third member. The group released several albums, appeared in T.I.'s music video for "Hello" and were featured on BET's "The Tiny & Toya Show" and VH1's "T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle." The group broke up in 2015 but reunited and released a single in 2023.