T.I. and Tameka “Tiny” Harris did not win any punitive damages in the latest OMFGIRLZ MGA litigation trial, after a jury on Wednesday found that MGA Entertainment had not acted with malice. The result keeps their total recovery capped at $17.9 million in compensatory damages.
For Tiny Harris, the question now is not whether the case produced a verdict, but whether any part of the lost $53.6 million punitive award can be restored. A California judge had already thrown out that portion of the 2024 verdict, calling it unsupported by the evidence, and the newest jury decision leaves the family without a path to add punitive money on top of the compensatory award.
The case has been moving through court since 2020 and has already produced sharp swings. In September 2024, a jury found that MGA Entertainment had misappropriated the OMG Girlz's name, likeness and identity by using them as the basis for seven dolls in the L.O.L. Surprise! O.M.G. line. That same earlier jury concluded MGA had acted with malice and returned a combined $71.5 million verdict, before the punitive-damages portion was later cut down.
The latest trial did not follow that path. Even after the earlier finding that the company had copied the group’s look and identity, the new jury drew a different line and did not find malice. That matters because punitive damages are meant to punish conduct a jury sees as especially blameworthy, and without that finding the plaintiffs were left only with compensatory damages.
The dispute has already run through several rounds. The first trial in January 2023 ended in a mistrial after jurors heard barred testimony accusing the toy company of cultural appropriation. A second trial a few months later cleared MGA Entertainment of wrongdoing, but that verdict was overturned on appeal after a Supreme Court ruling gave more weight to evidence about consumer confusion.
At trial, MGA Entertainment's billionaire founder, Isaac Larian, testified that T.I., Tiny Harris and the three OMG Girlz had no role in the design of his dolls. He also called them extortionists. The lawyers for T.I. and Tiny Harris said they were disappointed and said they had already proved malice once, adding that the latest jury did not have the benefit of the three weeks of evidence the earlier jury saw.
That leaves Tiny Harris and T.I. with a clear outcome, if not the one they wanted: no punitive damages, no increase beyond $17.9 million, and no immediate sign that the latest jury will reopen the money that was stripped from the 2024 verdict. What comes next is whether they keep pressing for more relief in a case that has already survived mistrial, appeal and another verdict.
