Thread by @meghanncuniff

Rapper T.I. is at the federal courthouse in Santa Ana, California, right now with his wife, Tiny, and stepdaughter Zonnique Pullins for trial in a lawsuit over dolls they say are based on Zonnique’s former group the OMG Girlz. They walked in from lunch about 20 minutes ago.

Here’s T.I., Tiny and Zonnique walking in with their crew. I confirmed with T.I. that there is indeed some big shit poppin in this courthouse today.

Opening statements won't be until tomorrow morning. The attorneys are in Judge James Selna's courtroom right now selecting the jury. Judge Selna is a true friend and advocate for democracy and the press - he allows journalists to sit in here and use laptops. We also can tweet.

T.I. and Tiny's lawyer Dave Scheper is questioning potential jurors now, including a man who is a chauffeur for celebrities. Man sees a "very, very entitled lifestyle," and celebrities expect things "that normal people just don’t have a right to feel they're entitled to."

Scheper and his team will use these answers to help them decide who to strike from the jury pool and who they should be OK with having on the jury. Lawyers for toymaker MGA Entertainment are doing the same.

One potential juror offered a harsh assessment of reality TV. The shows, she said, "have gotten way out of control." People have started putting reality stars on a pedestal. "Everybody thinks their behavior is OK...when the mainstream of America probably isn’t like that at all."

The woman continued, saying about reality stars: "The things they think are funny have a meanness to it."
She said she has not idea what's currently going on in realty TV and has no interest in ever finding out.
"When it says reality, I'm done," she said.

Regarding the dolls, MGA Entertainment lawyers say there are 31 at issue in trial. T.I. and Tiny's lawyers included these photo comparisons with the OMG Girlz in their counterclaim.

Another potential juror, a younger man, requested clarification regarding T.I.
"T.I. Is that the nickname of the musician?"
T.I.'s lawyers told the man, "T.I is right behind me."
The man said, "I don’t know if that shows partiality, but I used to listen to that type of music."

The man said he heard "T.I. a couple times" in court today "and I was like, I know who that is" but didn’t know what he looked like.
"You would not favor T.I. or his wife just because you liked their music?" Scheper asked.
"I don't think so," the man answered.

MGA's lawyer Jennifer Keller is up now, and one of her questions basically revealed MGA's entire case narrative: She asked if potential juror who doesn't like the vulgarity of rap music can understand why a company like MGA wouldn't want its children's toys associated with that.

Keller questioned one of two jurors who said he listens to rap. He said he keeps it old school. Keller asked, "How old is old school?"
Man says Dr. Dre, @50Cent.
Keller says everyone who performed at the last Super Bowl. Then she dropped a name: "How about Snoop?"

The man confirmed that yes, he listens to Snoop.
Which reminds me: If anyone is deciding who to like as a lawyer based on which rappers they litigate for and against, you should know that while Keller is opposing T.I. in this case, she is defending Snoop Dogg in another case.

I wrote an article for @LAmag about the case! Read this for all the details on why T.I. and Tiny are at the Orange County federal courthouse. bit.ly/3CZ4n7N

T.I., Tiny and Zonnique left the courthouse a few minutes ago. “I be reading your Twitter,” Zonnique told me.
A YouTuber I met at Tory Lanez’s trial is here, Nique at Nite, and T.I. told her, “Per the judge’s order, gone zip it.”
They’re due back tomorrow at 8:15.

Zonnique appears to have made the most of her time at the Ronald Reagan Federal Building & Courthouse in Santa Ana today. Instagram photo shoot out now.