T.I. usually moves fans with his high-priced music videos, but on Wednesday, a grainy cell phone clip of the rapper relaying a message to a suicidal would-be jumper proved to be just as successful as a Chris Robinson visual.
The Atlanta native (born Clifford Harris) made headlines when it was reported that he assisted authorities in talking a man down from a high-pressure situation.
T.I. said he wasn't sure what he could do, but once he was alerted, he felt compelled to act.
He spoke to MTV News late last night to explain the scene upon his arrival.
"The negotiator spoke to me, and asked me what I was willing to do," Tip said. "I asked them, 'What do you think I should do?' And they didn't just relay the message that I wanted to speak to him. I was willing to help in any way that I could to help fix the situation and try to see if we could get this situation back to where it was before [the emergency].
"Then they came up with the idea of shooting a video message on the phone. So, the policeman shot a video of me on the phone. I sent a video message to [the man] telling him, basically, just that [I wanted to help]. Once they sent it to him, about 20 minutes later, he decided to come down."
The rapper's heroics came during the late afternoon, after he'd heard about the incident on Atlanta radio station V-103. The station is housed in the same building off which the man was threatening to jump from the 22nd floor. The man was not charged, and was taken to a hospital afterward, according to NBC affiliate 11Alive News.
T.I., who shines with confidence as an MC, revealed that throughout the ordeal, he was unsure what his help could provide.
Fortunately for all involved, however, the rapper proved to be a calming force amid the chaos.
"I didn't know for sure what I could do," T.I. told MTV News. "Something inside me just felt compelled to try."
Is T.I. a hero? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we may actually have a race on our hands this weekend at the movies, now that the once-ignored old-fogey actioner Red is gaining momentum on Jackass 3D when it comes to tracking. Men over 30 are still the audience most anticipating Red — which stars Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren and John Malkovich — but if Summit Entertainment can lure the ladies, the film could finish first. On the opposite spectrum, Jackass is appealing to the young male moviegoer, as expected. But there’s the fact that Johnny Knoxville’s last endeavor, Jackass Number Two, earned $29 million back in 2006 — that gross coupled with the extra charge for 3-D on this go-around still makes the gross-out stunt comedy a formidable opponent. Read on for my predictions.
Image Credit: Sonja Flemming/CBS; Ron P. Jaffe/CBS Record 20863302Looks like no one should underestimate the appeal of Jim Belushi! The Defenders had a great night Wednesday and swept its timeslot among viewers (9.9 million) and adults 18-49 (a 2.5 rating/7 share). Compared to last week, the legal drama that also stars Jerry O’Connell was up 14% in the key demographic and 6% in viewers.
SPOILER ALERT! Don’t read any further if you haven’t yet watched tonight’s live 30 Rock fandango. I was lucky enough to be in the audience of the 8:30pm East Coast taping (along with my colleague Michael Ausiello) and it was a lot of fun, kinda like a truncated Saturday Night Live taping. After each skit, the cast would quickly jet off stage to prepare for their next moment. In between commercial breaks, the SNL band played music. My other colleague Archana Ram attended the dress rehearsal earlier in the evening and not much seemed to have been changed.