Tameka “Tiny” Harris was criticized for appealing to her Instagram followers to donate $60,000 for Trey Songz’s bodyguard who is detained in Dubai.
Cornell Whitfield, 40, was sentenced to a year in a Dubai jail for “doing his job,” according to Tiny.
“We are asking for your help,” the Xscape singer wrote in a now deleted post. “$60k is what we are trying to raise to bring Champ back to the states,”
Tiny, 48, continued, “This situation is unfortunate and he does not deserve to be treated any kind of way for doing his job. He is a family man and loving father who deserves to be with his loved ones. To donate the link is posted on my stories. Thank you bring champ home.”
But Tiny’s fans were not in a giving mood. They accused her of taking advantage of people who work from paycheck-to-paycheck.
One person wrote: “Rich people asking 9 to 5 people for donations is crazy.”
Another person said, “So between her, tip and trigga they couldn’t give 20k each.”
“Tip” is Tiny’s husband, rapper Tip “T.I.” Harris. And “Trigga” is one of Songz’s nicknames.
A third person wrote: “I know she ain’t asking the poors for a little $60k when her group chat is worth a billion. Ain’t no way she meant to post this.”
The incident happened back in March in Dubai. Whitfield reportedly stepped between Trey Songz and a man who confronted him as they left the luxury FIVE Palm Jumeirah hotel.
The man was aggressively waving his arms and yelling at the R&B singer. Whitfield tried to calm the man down by “gently tapping” the man’s face with an open hand.
The man did not appear to be injured by the slap. Whitfield and Songz left Dubai after the incident, but when they returned two months ago, Whitfield was arrested after being told the man filed an assault complaint.
When Whitfield was unable to pay the accuser $60,000 USD, he was sentenced to a year in jail.
The father-of-two is currently out on bond, but he is unable to leave Dubai. Since he’s not working he can’t support his family back home in Miami, Florida.
In addition to guarding Songz, Whitfield has also provided security for rap icon Lil Kim, rapper Quavo, and several NFL players.
