T.I. Denies Using Stranger's Suicide Attempt as Publicity Stunt

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Iconic hip-hop star T.I. managed to coax a suicidal man off the ledge of a 22-story downtown Atlanta building Wednesday afternoon. Now that the waters have calmed, tongues are wagging about whether the entire suicide attempt was just a sick hoax to gain brownie points for T.I.'s upcoming drug possession trial.

A man made his way up to the roof of the 22-story Colony Square skyscraper on Peachtree Street at around 4 p.m. T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, offered to help after hearing about the tense situation on a local radio station. He was on his way to a video shoot and decided to lend a hand by driving directly to the scene.

"Something in me just said, Man you gotta try and help. You gotta do whatever you can, " the Grammy Award-winning rapper told WSB-TV.


Atlanta policeman James Polite told CNN that T.I. just came on the scene and "appeared out of nowhere." He offered to speak with the man about how "a person can make it through anything." An officer taped a quick video message, which was then sent to the man on the roof. Upon listening to T.I., the man, who appeared to be around 25 years of age, came down off the ledge.

Reportedly, once the man was on solid ground, T.I. spoke with him for a few moments before he was escorted to nearby Grady Memorial Hospital for observation.

Now T.I., who is knee deep in trouble for drug charges stemming from a September arrest and facing 5 to 14 months behind bars if a judge finds him guilty of violating his supervised probation, finds himself in another bit of controversy:

Was the suicide attempt just a publicity stunt to gain favor for his upcoming court case? Critics believe that the perfectly timed hoax was planned.

T.I., who is disturbed by those who doubt his noble actions, issued a statement Thursday in his defense:

"I'm aware some people are saying this was a publicity stunt. That's preposterous. People refuse to acknowledge that God has a purpose for all people. Fate and destiny, all these things, they put us where we're supposed to be. This was not a coincidence. I didn't wake up in the morning knowing this was going to happen. This wasn't on my list of things to do today."

Publicity stunt or not, Friday is "D" day for the famed suicide negotiator.

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