T.I. cancels Japan trip for Florida court appearance

<p>Atlanta rapper T.I. has canceled plans for a tour of Japan after receiving word he's accused in Florida of failing to perform community service for a 2003 arrest.</p><p>The Florida arrest warrant, which landed the rapper briefly in an Atlanta jail on Wednesday, comes just days after T.I., whose real name is Clarence Harris, spoke at the funeral of a close friend who was killed in a gun battle in Cincinnati.</p><p>Sidney Margetson, a spokesman for the rapper, said he had been scheduled to leave Sunday for a 10-day promotional tour in Japan. The visit was to promote T.I.'s album, "King," which was released in March and has already sold more than one million copies.</p><p>"I think everybody decided it's just a good time for him to take this week and regroup," said Jonathan Leonard, an entertainment attorney for T.I, said Friday.</p><p>Philant Johnson, 26, of Union City, Ga., was killed and three other people were injured May 3 in a gun battle along Interstate 75 in Cincinnati that police say began as a fight in a suburban after-hours club.</p><p>T.I., 25, who was in the same vehicle with his lifelong friend, was not hurt.</p><p>Witnesses told police the fight began at a post-performance party for T.I. and fellow rapper Yung Joc.</p><p>Lawyer Dwight Thomas said the entertainer was attending an unrelated court hearing in Atlanta on Wednesday when he was informed of the Florida warrant.</p><p>Harris pleaded guilty last year to battery on a law enforcement officer, trespassing and disorderly conduct in a 2003 incident at a mall in Tampa, Fla. He was sentenced to 18 months probation and 75 hours of community service.</p><p>Another 150 hours were added by a Florida judge months later after Harris admitted violating his probation by driving on a suspended license.</p><p>Thomas said the rapper has performed more than 75 hours of community service in Atlanta and that Georgia officials thought he was meeting his obligations.</p><p>"Georgia is saying they had no information about the additional hours," Thomas said. "He's just caught in the middle of what appears to be a misunderstanding between two agencies."</p><p>Thomas said T.I. is scheduled to appear in a Tampa court on Monday to address the charges.</p><p>"The timing is just awful," Thomas said. "He's grieving his best friend's death; he's trying to cooperate with the Cincinnati officers to capture the suspects.</p><p>"He's trying to get on a whole different path and put these things from the past truly in the past."</p><p>Plans for T.I. to resume his U.S. tour on May 24 in Anaheim, Calif. are still on, Margetson said.</p><p>T.I.'s hits include "Rubber Band Man" and "Bring 'em Out." His fourth full-length album, "King," debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top 200 and sold more than 500,000 copies in its first week.</p><p>T.I. won an award for the single "U Don't Know Me" at last November's Vibe Awards and played a teen from an impoverished section of Atlanta in the movie "ATL" that came out this year.</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/5/124400