I hope Megan Thee Stallion had a blessed Christmas holiday. She received an early Christmas present on December 23rd, last Friday: the jury convicted Tory Lanez on three felony charges from his assault on Megan in July 2020. Megan, Tory and several friends had been partying in LA when there was some kind of awful confrontation. Tory shot Megan and told her to “dance, bitch.” Since then, Tory has paid off friends and blogs to smear Megan (his victim) and lie about what happened that night. Megan has been through it, but at least the LA court system and an LA jury saw through Lanez’s bullsh-t. Megan ended up testifying against Tory too.
After a nine-day trial, Tory Lanez has been convicted of shooting Megan Thee Stallion in July 2020. On Friday afternoon a Los Angeles jury found the Canadian rapper, born Daystar Peterson, guilty of all three charges — assault with a semiautomatic firearm, carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
Lanez will be sentenced Jan. 27. The convictions may carry up to 22 years and eight months in prison. Lanez, 30, showed “no visible reaction” as the verdict came down, the Associated Press reports, adding that he was handcuffed shortly thereafter.
“The jury got it right,” Megan Thee Stallion’s lawyer Alex Spiro tells PEOPLE. “I am thankful there is justice for Meg.”
The rapper, née Megan Pete, was commended by Los Angeles Country District Attorney George Gascón following the verdict.
“I want to start by highlighting the bravery of Megan Pete. You showed incredible courage and vulnerability with your testimony despite repeated and grotesque attacks that you did not deserve. You faced unjust and despicable scrutiny that no woman should ever face and you have been an inspiration to others across LA County and the nation,” Gascón wrote in a statement. “Women, especially Black women, are afraid to report crimes like assault and sexual violence because they are too often not believed. This trial, for the second time this month, highlighted the numerous ways that our society must do better for women,” he continued.
“I’d also like to thank the jurors for their time and thoughtful deliberation, and our trial team for their tireless pursuit of the truth. You spent countless hours away from your families during the holiday season preparing this case and finding justice for Ms. Pete. Your sacrifice is appreciated.”
I’m glad the DA made a special statement about Megan’s bravery and the need for the criminal justice system to do better for Black women. Megan was extraordinarily brave in the face of too much bullsh-t. Disloyal friends, liars, a misogynistic media backing Lanez. Megan stayed true to herself and she showed so much grace in the face of that bullsh-t. So many men and so many “music journalists” owe Megan a huge apology for what they did to her.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid.
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- Los Angeles, LA – Megan Thee Stallion arrives in LA court today as trial in her shooting begins. Tory Lanez, 30, (Daystar Peterson) is on trial for the 2020 shooting in which he is accused of shooting at her feet after a dispute with the Savage artist as they drove away from a pool party at Kylie Jenner’s house. Pictured: Megan Thee Stallion BACKGRID USA 13 DECEMBER 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Los Angeles, LA – Megan Thee Stallion arrives in LA court today as trial in her shooting begins. Tory Lanez, 30, (Daystar Peterson) is on trial for the 2020 shooting in which he is accused of shooting at her feet after a dispute with the Savage artist as they drove away from a pool party at Kylie Jenner’s house. Pictured: Megan Thee Stallion BACKGRID USA 13 DECEMBER 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Los Angeles, CA – Rapper Tory Lanez leaves court carrying his son after Megan Thee Stallion’s former best friend who was a star witness in the trial, dropped a bombshell testimony. Pictured: Tory Lanez BACKGRID USA 14 DECEMBER 2022 USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Los Angeles, CA – Singer Tory Lanez arrives for day 5 of his court case against Megan Thee Stallion in DTLA. Pictured: Tory Lanez BACKGRID USA 16 DECEMBER 2022 BYLINE MUST READ: NYP / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Los Angeles, CA – Singer Tory Lanez arrives for day 5 of his court case against Megan Thee Stallion in DTLA. Pictured: Tory Lanez BACKGRID USA 16 DECEMBER 2022 BYLINE MUST READ: NYP / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
All the male rappers who attacked Megan need to apologize to her as well. I’m happy she got justice.
I’m not going to hold my breath for an apology from them. The misogynoir issues at stake are much bigger than them and I call for a mass boycott of all their rubbish songs, their sponsors and advertisers. Hit them where it hurts. In their pockets.
I hope Megan gets the love
& support she deserves.
Economic boycotts do not work. If you want to change an industry you need sustained public pressure through direct action. Right now I don’t hear anyone calling for protests outside any of these record labels, advertisers, concert venues, etc.
We already have men decrying the justice system about how sad it is that another Black man is behind bars…These losers will never hold themselves accountable. I’m glad that the legal system DID punish Tory in this case, and. I hope they come for Kelsey next.
I don’t listen to rap music (and only learned days ago that “Lanez” was pronounced “lanes”), but I kept an eye on this case due to what was done to Megan The Stallion. The interesting thing about the people out there decrying the justice system as you say is that, after the shooting, Megan tried to protect Tory Lanez. She apparently told police that the injury to her feet was due to stepping on glass. She testified that she did this to protect him from police “excess”, which would have also protected him from a conviction and sentence to jail.
Sadly, apart from a lame apology and a paltry attempted $1 million bribe, Tory did nothing to discourage people from maligning Megan after the shooting. He was described as having “no visible expression” after the verdict but I would think there would be some sadness from a man intentionally brought his young son to a criminal trial. Also, his father’s outburst in the court after the verdict, though understandable, really doesn’t help Tory Lanez look any better.
Another blatant example of how black women aren’t believed and are held responsible for how everyone else acts. Disgusting. These AHs need to be held responsible for supporting other AHs.
I hope Carl Crawford sits his lame ass down next.
Good. The campaign against her has been disgusting, so I’m glad she’s seeing justice.
Agreed. It’s good that the attorney put that message out there too. The truth is that all the shaming, control, and hatred aimed at women over sexuality have completely failed to be effective or safe ways to teach that women and girls are more than their bodies and what males like to do with them. All of it ha completely backfired and taught the opposite of that. It has encoraged people to allow disapproval of what women do with their bodies to rule everything, from which women are allowed to represent their racial or ethnic group, to who girls and women are allowed to care about or grieve for, to how a person responds to a woman being assaulted or killed. It makes it harder to protect women. Sometimes there may be a good faith argument about wanting young women to know that it’s ok to say no, that they don’t have to put out, or that their bodies aren’t all they have to offer. But for the most part that argument has become a cop-out for the bigotry that drives people to treat women like this. The tendency both sexes have to prioritize male pain already puts women at a disadvantage, and slut-shaming makes it even harder to protect women. People have to work against both of those things in themselves in order to not become another part of a woman’s abuse.
100% this.
Glad she got justice and another violent man off the streets. Hopefully, she can begin to deal with her trauma and the misogynistic rap industry won’t penalize her for daring to speak out.
Good for Megan, after all what she went through, and seeing misogynoir people continuing to try and take her down.
I was so disappointed to see LeBron James on Twitter *still* supporting Tory Lanez.
Lebron is a huge disappointment.
I had no idea about Lebron. How could he for god’s sake! I”m very happy for Megan. What an ordeal it must have been.
LeBron is a j^*^-off!
I’ve been pulling and praying for her. Can’t imagine what she went through mentally and emotionally since this ordeal started.
I did notice a certain blog that proclaimed tory innocent from the start, completely disappeared from the web after posting a black and white sympathy image of tory like he died or something. I went straight there after the verdict because this person was clearly paid to defend him after he assaulted Meghan then August.
Now that Tory Lanez has been found guilty, some of the people who were assholes about Megan will probably do a 180 to try to save face. A lot of people won’t be able to admit they were wrong or apologize sincerely for what they played a part in though.
I’m scared for Meghan. Some idiot out there might get it in HIS head that she’s to blame for another Black man going to prison and go after her. Just because HE likes this man’s music or thinks the way to handle this is by accepting payoffs and not dealing with police/the justice system. Meghan gets to choose how she handles being shot, not the misogynistic hip-hop and rap industry, and not even the Black community, which can be full of misogynoir itself. She was in a no-win situation, and she even testified that she wished this man had killed her instead, since she’s lost so much, including friends, in this process. That broke my heart.
Mine too. It’s a dangerous situation to be in on so many levels.
Her saying she wished she’d been killed was devastating. And still, a gay, black YouTuber named Zach, said she may have lied about her mental health for sympathy. The black women who support his channel forced him to remove the video and apologize.
Everyone who has dealt with abuse in their lives knows her risk has escalated even again, now that that horrible man was convicted. Others have said it better. I’m impressed and glad she is considering going after the particular blogs that spread insane disinformation about her experience, many people in her shoes understandably wouldn’t continue pursuing justice.
I hope she sues and wins. These folks need to fear lying for profit.
What were they blaming her for after this idiot shot her? Not dancing well enough?
He should get an extra 5 years for saying that while shooting someone
Horrifying. I saw a clip of the incident when we got news of the verdict. How terrifying for her that must have been! I too appreciate the words of praise she received from the district attorney. Megan’s been through so much.
Glad to see that she got a conviction, she was shot ffs!
FIN. AL. LY.
With the amount of crazy BS that went on in that courtroom, I was shocked (but VERY happy & relieved) that he was convicted. Good job to that jury.
Im still going to need an explanation for her ex bodyguard not showing up to testify on her behalf. Without his testimony, the jury really could have gone another way. I hope the prosecutors look into money, bribes and perjury that happened in this trial. Disgusting
Right! Where the heck was he??
Second this! Seemed like hush money was flying around.
Meghann Cuniff @meghanncuniff on twitter, is a reporter that did a great job covering and providing context for what happened during the trial.
I’m so happy for Megan and I only wish nothing, but better thing for her in the future.
I hope this is a lesson to abusers like Pitt that their smear campaign against their victims will not equal a win in court.
Let him rot
I can’t stand that man. The thing is he will do his time and then be sent back to Canada. We don’t want him ! The nerve of him to bribe witnesses and bloggers. Anyone who took the money is a real piece of sh*t. I hope Meghan finds better friends and better people to be around. I also hope she remembers who dragged her (I’m looking at you Drake).
He’ll get a longer sentence in the States, and he will be stuck in an US prison. (I hope) Enjoy prison, douche.
I know he will do prison time in the U.S. but after he’s done doing his time, he will get deported back to Canada.
I’m with you on that @ME. I’m also glad the jury saw right through the bring your toddler to your criminal trial BS this man was pulling. What a manipulative, vicious, narcissistic jackass.
I’m so happy for Megan and I hope she finds peace. She was incredibly brave and showed such grace through this whole thing. It’s not much comfort to her now but later she will see this horrible crime revealed to her exactly who was around her. She had a whole bunch of phonies and hangers on – that “friend” of hers who changed her story and lied because Lanez bribed her can go pound sand. So can everyone else who badmouthed her. I’m looking at you Aubrey.
Agree !
Oh, thank goodness. I’m so glad to see her vindicated.
I am happy that Ms Pete prevailed in a court of law.
He will be imprisoned and subsequently deported.
I hope others learn from this experience and special acknowledgement to Ms. Maxine Waters, Congresswoman of CalI
and Ms. Twana Burke, Head of “MeToo” who have been Ms Pete’s early support.
This is hard lesson for him to learn..
I hope he uses the time away to do so….
Learn to behave properly.
Maybe, just maybe someone else will think twice before pulling the trigger.
Tarana Burke
Thanks for the correction.
I had chills reading the DA’s comments. Meg walked out of there looking 🔥! I think she is such a great example of a “normal” looking pretty woman.
The DA’s statement struck exactly the right notes, which I admit I found surprising. I hope Megan had a peaceful holiday.
KC, where do you live where MTS looks “normal.” I from NYC and she with that beautiful face, 5’10” stature and curvaceous body would stand out as GORGEOUS.
She is stunningly beautiful.
I love Meg so much and I’m so glad the jury found the truth. I hope she can rebuild her life and move on. She’s so crazy talented!
I am so happy for her, and utterly disgusted at all the jokes and dismissive, victim blaming rethoric… I mean.
What shocks me even more is how dumb people are, and now they are claiming Beyoncé and Jay Z are to blame and they paid off the jury or whatever. People are delusional. And cruel.
I hope she heals, truly heals.
Congratulations and the happiest and most peaceful of holidays to Megan🎉❤️🎊
Dang it we just finished apologizing for Bieber and Tristan Thompson, now we have to apologize for this guy…
Sorry on behalf of Canada
Don’t forget Nickelback and Avril Lavigne.
Daystar really thought he was going to Johnny Depp his way out of prison, but justice prevailed. Let us never hear from him again, and not return to the early aughts when criminal rappers made collect calls to record their verses from prison.
Black incels and pick-mes really embarrassed themselves during this trial. I hope there are civil consequences for all the lying bloggers and gossip sites, a La Tasha K.
And fuck Daystar’s trifling ass daddy too!
Hi Prison! Please enjoy this gift named Torey. Merry Christmas!
Love, Meg
I was also horrified by Megan’s treatment by rappers, influences, and their hanger-on. The lies they perpetuated about Megan were specifically to perpetuate the stereotypes of black women as violent and/or dangerous, disrespectful, criminally inclined, therefore responsible for crimes committed against them, and as a result, not deserving of justice. People were actually outraged that Megan was demanding justice, which is beyond fucked. to me, the fact that little girls, particular girls of color, saw a strong black woman stand up for herself, demand justice, and GET IT, is of immeasurable importance.
So much trauma to this young woman. I’m grateful he’s been brought to justice. I hope she can find peace.
Very glad for Megan.
Megan was so strong during this ordeal and it’s wonderful she won the case! That father’s outburst certainly showed where “Torey” learned his ways! I really like her…she seems pretty down to earth from what I’ve seen. She’ll never get the apologies she deserves from people like Drake and LeBron, unfortunately, but at least she can do something about the utubers and media who lie(d) on her!
Good for Megan! I served on a jury for the first time this summer and someone who was pretty clearly guilty skated, so I was very nervous watching this. The number of people who didn’t support the victim was maddening.