On Friday, Jury found Daystar Peterson, better known as rapper Tory Lanez, guilty on all counts in his Los Angeles trial for shooting fellow female rapper Megan Thee Stallion. Lanez could face up to a maximum sentence of more than 22 years in prison and possible deportation back to his home country, Canada.
As a result of the jury’s verdict, Lanez was found guilty of discharging a firearm with gross negligence, assault with a semiautomatic firearm, and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a motor vehicle.
After a party in the Hollywood Hills the night of July 12, 2020, Megan Pete, better known as Megan Thee Stallion, claimed Lanez shot at her feet five times, Megan testified. In her testimony, Megan explained that Lanez and Megan had argued in the minutes leading up to the shooting, especially when both of them began attacking each other’s music.
She then got out of the vehicle and tried to walk away until Lanez eventually leaned out of the car window and opened fire, she said, leaving the back of her feet wounded. At one point during the alleged shooting, he yelled, “Dance, b—-!” she testified. She eventually got back into the car, which was pulled over shortly by LAPD, according to CBS Los Angeles.
L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón praised Megan Thee Stallion for her bravery immediately after the verdict was read, saying that she “showed incredible courage and vulnerability despite repeated and grotesque attacked that she did not deserve.” Gascón continued, “ Women, especially Black women, are afraid to report crimes like assault and sexual violence because they are too often not believed,” Gascón said.
In April, Megan Thee Stallion sat down with CBS Mornings co-hots Gayle King to describe the incident and how she reacted.
“The argument was with the two people in the back seat. So I asked the driver to pull the car over. Like, I’m done with this. And I should have stayed out of the car. Like, I should not have gotten back in the car. And they were like, ‘Megan, just get back in the car. We’re almost there.’ And like, just, ‘Get back in.’ So I get back in the car. It’s…getting worse.”
Megan states as the augment escalates, she gets out of the car, and that’s when she tells King that Lanez had fired a gun at her feet several times.
Megan continues, “So I get out of the car, and it’s like everything happens so fast. And all I hear is this man screaming. And he said, ‘Dance b—-!’ And he started shooting. And I’m just like, ‘Oh, my God.’ Like, he shot a couple of times. And I was so scared.”
Throughout the eight-day trial, Megan and Lanez supporters gathered outside and crowded the courtroom and hallways. Although tense at times, the scene remained mostly peaceful until the verdict was announced.
Similar to the Johnny Depp and Amber Heard trials earlier this year, the hip-hop industry and media have been captivated by the trial since it began. One thing is certain: the only way forward is to address the issues of misogynoir within hip-hop and the broader Black community and build systems that create a safe and supportive environment for all women.
