'This false narrative has just been sensationalized.'
T.I. is speaking out after his controversial comments.
During the latest episode of Facebook Watch's Red Table Talk, the 39-year-old rapper discusses his recent remarks about his daughter's virginity -- which he jokingly referred to has "hymengate" -- alongside his wife, Tiny, and the show's hosts, Jada Pinkett Smith and Adrienne Banfield-Jones.
The controversy began earlier this month when T.I. told the Ladies Like Us podcast that he has "yearly trips to the gynecologist" with his 18-year-old-daughter Deyjah "to check her hymen." The podcast's hosts later apologized and took down the episode.
"I came to clear up any misconceptions that have been surrounding how we interact and parent and what is appropriate and inappropriate. I think all of this surrounds a conversation I was having in a very joking manner," he says. "From a place of truth, I began to embellish and exaggerate and I think that a lot of people took it extremely literal."
"I think that my intentions have been terribly misconstrued and misconceived," he continues, adding that he was "oblivious" to how his comments could be sensitive, though he does understand now.
T.I. also wants to "set the record straight" about some of the finer points of his comments, telling the ladies, "I never said I was in any exam room. That was an assumption. That is a falsity. I never said it was being done present day as an 18-year-old... I never said that her mother wasn't present. Her mom was present."
"This false narrative has just been sensationalized," he adds.
The rapper continues by expressing regret over the fact that he upset his daughter -- who appeared to unfollow him on social media after the incident -- with his comments, admitting, "I am incredibly apologetic to her for that."
"She understands my intentions and she knows who I am. She knows who I’ve always been," he says. "And I think that that allows a certain level of understanding. The outside, the noise, it's distracting, it's confusing, it's hurtful and embarrassing."
In fact, T.I. says, it was because of his daughter -- whom he shares with his ex, Ms. Niko -- that he didn't address the controversy in public sooner.
"At her request, I was taking the bullets. And I don't have a problem with that. I'm fine in the fire... My daughter said, 'Just let it go. Don’t say nothing. Just let it go,'" he recalls. "And I didn't [respond] until l I had different directives. 'OK. Go here. Make it stop. Clear it up.' I would not be here today had I not had those different directives. I’d still be sitting in silence."
T.I. goes on to express confusion over "the purpose and place of a father in society," admitting that he struggles to understand the difference between control and protection.
"In the age or the time where our women, black women, are the most unprotected, unattended, disregarded women on the planet, I'm being criticized because I'm willing to go above and beyond to protect mine," he says. "Anything that is the most important thing to me in my life, I am going to deal with that with very extreme care. And I don't understand how that is looked at as being so wrong... For there to be malice, there must be ill-intent."
"I am here to protect all of the children from themselves until they make it to a point where they have awareness, a sense of self and discernment to be able to make certain decisions on their own that will impact their lives indefinitely," he adds. "So there has to be someone there to clarify what is acceptable, what is unacceptable. I trust and believe that I put moral standards, principles, and greatness in all of my children, but until they learn how to unlock it and use those powers for themselves, it has to be harnessed."
T.I. also shares that, through his actions, he was attempting to keep boys who want to "come in and defile and destroy the sanctity" away from Deyjah, as well as making sure she understood "the dangers of pregnancy, the dangers of diseases, the dangers of having your heart broken."
"I’m not there to protect necessarily virginity, I just know that is a big move. Once you make that move, there are things that happen that follow. You have to be equipped," he says. "[I told her,] 'Keep your expectations low. You can't get your feelings wrapped up in this now. This is a physical urge. This is an animalistic urge that's taking over right here. This is not a romantic, emotional encounter for this gentleman and don't think it is.'"
"'Your childhood ends when you lose your virginity. That's it. Now you've ended your childhood and it's time to begin adulthood,'" he adds. "'And I can't let you run around and enjoy the luxuries of adulthood without any of the responsibility of adulthood... You can't just run around not knowing what you want to do no more.'"
For the final point, T.I. explains why he views virginity differently for his sons than he does for Deyjah.
"If my son goes out and gets a girl pregnant, how has the household changed for those nine months? The household does not necessarily change those nine months, whereas if my daughter comes home [pregnant], my household is changed immediately," he says. "The stakes are higher."
"I understand that I don't understand," he adds at the end of the episode. "I think all things in life happen for a reason. Every lesson has a purpose and it must be dealt with differently. But out of care and out of concern, not out of control."
Jada recently told ET that T.I. and Tiny's Red Table Talk sit-down will continue in a follow-up episode, which will focus on how the couple "survived, in regards to their marriage."
Part two of T.I.'s Red Table Talk will be available Nov. 27 on Facebook Watch.
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