T.I. has been hit with an intellectual property theft lawsuit over his upcoming movie Situationships, with a web series producer claiming the title is lifted from her own project of the same name.
The rapper (Clifford Harris Jr.) faces trademark infringement claims in a complaint filed Wednesday (June 18) by Featherstone Entertainment, an Atlanta-based production company run by a creator named Cylla Senii.
Senii has made two seasons of the scripted web series Situationships, which chronicles the ups and downs of millennial dating. The show launched on YouTube in 2016 and has since been distributed by BET Digital, Amazon Prime and Tubi.
According to the complaint, Senii worked between 2019 and 2024 to develop both TV show and movie versions of Situationships. But in the fall of 2024, she says, she was shocked to learn that T.I. and his company, Grand Hustle Films, were about to start filming their own comedy film called Situationships, written, directed by and starring the rapper.
“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,’” writes Senii’s attorney.
The lawsuit claims T.I.’s alleged infringement is intentional. Senii’s lawyer notes that one collaborator she worked with to develop her Situationships show is a close friend of T.I.’s family, and that another producer with whom she discussed the project is now working on the rapper’s movie.
Senii says this behavior is “ironic” after T.I. and his wife Tameka “Tiny” Harris’ recent $71 million trial win in their long-running intellectual property battle against toymaker MGA, which took issue with dolls supposedly modeled after 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,” writes Senii’s lawyer.
The lawsuit says Senii sent T.I. a cease-and-desist letter in December 2024, but he never responded. Senii has also challenged T.I.’s numerous attempts to obtain a trademark for “Situationships,” with one of T.I.’s applications getting preliminarily rejected in May after an examiner found there was a likelihood of confusion with the web series mark.
Senii is now levying a slew of claims against T.I. and Grand Hustle Films for trademark infringement, unfair competition and civil conspiracy. She’s seeking an injunction that would bar him from releasing his movie under the moniker “Situationships” as well as unspecified financial damages.
Reps for the rapper and Grand Hustle Films did not immediately return a request for comment on the lawsuit.
