Atlanta rapper T.I. has canceled plans for a tour of Japan after being accused in Florida of failing to perform community service for a 2003 arrest.
The Florida arrest warrant, which landed the 25-year-old rapper briefly in an Atlanta jail Wednesday, came just days after T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, spoke at the funeral of a close friend who was killed in a gun battle in Cincinnati.
Spokesman Sidney Margetson said T.I. had been scheduled to leave Sunday for a 10-day tour in Japan to promote his new album, “King.”
“I think everybody decided it’s just a good time for him to take this week and regroup,” Jonathan Leonard, an entertainment attorney for T.I., said Friday.
Philant Johnson, 26, of Union City, Ga., was killed and three other people were injured May 3 in a gun battle along Interstate 75 in Cincinnati that police said began as a fight in a suburban after-hours club. T.I., who was in the same vehicle with his lifelong friend, wasn’t hurt.
T.I. pleaded guilty last year to battery on a law enforcement officer, trespassing and disorderly conduct in a 2003 incident at a mall in Tampa. He was sentenced to 18 months’ probation and 75 hours of community service.
Another 150 hours were added by a Florida judge months later, after T.I. admitted violating his probation by driving on a suspended license.
Lawyer Dwight Thomas said the rapper had performed more than 75 hours of community service in Atlanta and that Georgia officials thought he was meeting his obligations.
Thomas said T.I. was scheduled to appear Monday in a Tampa court to address the charges.
T.I.’s hits include “Rubber Band Man” and “Bring Em Out.”