T.I Causes Viacom To Pay Millions For Airing A Deceased Loved One Without Family Permission

T.I Causes Viacom To Pay Millions

BHR Hollywood Reports.........Viacom picked up a large tab after a reality show about rapper T.I. aired a dead body.

Viacom is being sued by a Georgia family for showing the dead body of their loved one during an episode of T.I.’s MTV show “Road To Redemption.”

In 2009, MTV aired an episode in which T.I. accompanied a young man to the Haugabrooks Funeral Home in downtown Atlanta to pay respects to his recently deceased friend, Joseph Williams.

It appears that no one cleared the filming with Williams’ family and shortly thereafter a suit was filed with a number of claims including violation of likeness, negligent misrepresentations of the deceased, and invasion of privacy.

T.I.

On June 29, Viacom rejected a settlement that called for an amount that, even after deducting from the $5 million policy limit the extensive defense costs incurred during more than three years of litigation, was within the $5 million policy limit of the Insurance Policy.

Though having an insurance policy in place to cover up to $3 million for “Each Loss,” Viacom says that the Williams’ family filed multiple charges and the company in turn suffered repeated losses, with each having high costs.

Ironically, T.I. and his affiliated companies were not mentioned in the suit despite starring in the show and serving as an executive producer.

I'm Destiny Renee and this is your BHR Hollywood Report