Lanez is accused of shooting the GRAMMY winner's feet after a pool party at Kylie Jenner's house in 2020.
Megan Thee Stallion has taken the stand to testify in the trial of musician Tory Lanez more than two years after the GRAMMY winner accused the 30-year-old rapper of shooting her in the feet after a pool party at the home of Kylie Jenner in July 2020.
Megan's time on the stand -- which lasted most of the day -- saw the artist fight back emotions as she recounted her allegations against Lanez, and faced him in the courtroom while delivering her testimony.
The trial against Lanez -- born Daystar Peterson -- began on Monday with opening statements in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom. He is charged with one count each of assault with a semiautomatic firearm; discharging a firearm with gross negligence, and carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle; along with allegations that he personally used a firearm and inflicted great bodily injury. If convicted as charged, he faces more than 22 years in prison.
Megan arrived at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday, dressed in a bright purple suit, and directed a smile at a group of supportive fans who'd been waiting in the hallway to see her.
The 27-year-old rapper initially told the police who arrived on the scene in 2020 that she "stepped on glass," before revealing that she had been shot in the feet weeks later. Megan was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where doctors told her she had bullet fragments in both her feet -- some of which still remain.
"I just don't feel good," Megan told the court after being asked by Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Kathy Ta if she was nervous, according to The Los Angeles Times. "I can't believe I have to come up here and do this."
Megan was directed to recount her personal relationships with both Lanez and Kelsey Harris -- Megan's best friend and assistant at the time -- and said that she and Lanez began arguing as they were driving away from a party at Jenner’s house with Lanez, his bodyguard and Harris. Lanez was upset with Megan because she asked him to leave the party.
Megan told the court that she and Lanez had become friends and bonded over the shared loss of their mothers in the months before the shooting. They also occasionally had a sexual relationship, which Harris learned for the first time inside that SUV, according to Pete.
According to the LA Times, Megan said that Harris had a "crush" on Lanez, and after the revelation about their sex lives, the argument spiraled out of control. Lanez called both women "b**ches and hoes," she testified, and then the two began bickering over the state of their musical careers.
Megan criticized Lanez's "musical skills" which is what she says led to the altercation.
"Tory was basically telling me I wasn't s**t, and I said, 'Actually, You ain't s**t. This is where you at in your career. This is where you at with your music.' And I feel like that really rubbed him the wrong way. He kept yelling and cursing," she said, according to Rolling Stone.
According to CBS News, on Monday Los Angeles County Assistant District Attorney Alexander Bott told jurors Lanez ordered Megan -- whose real name is Megan Pete -- to "dance b**ch" as Lanez allegedly fired five shots at her after she got out of an SUV during an argument in the Hollywood Hills.
Rolling Stone reported that Bott also revealed that key witness Harris will testify that she saw Lanez fire the semiautomatic 9mm handgun that wounded Megan in both feet.
"Kelsey will tell you that she just saw her close friend get shot by the defendant," Bott told jurors, adding that Harris rushed to Megan's side as the "Savage" rapper lay bleeding in a random driveway in the Hollywood Hills. Bott said Harris will testify she freaked out when Lanez approached the two women after he allegedly fired five shots.
Bott alleged that Megan and Harris were "terrified" at the scene when they agreed to return to the car before it was pulled over by officers a short time later. He revealed that Harris sent three text messages to Megan's bodyguard, Justin Edison, in the five minutes following the shooting.
CBS News reported that a visual of the text chain shown in the courtroom showed that Harris texted Edison "Help" at 4:27 a.m. on July 12, 2020. "Tory Shot Meg," the next line read. "911," the third bubble read.
Megan told jurors that Lanez allegedly promised each woman $1 million if they did not tell police about the incident, claiming he was on probation for a prior weapons offense.
When Los Angeles officers stopped the vehicle, they subsequently found the gun still warm to the touch on the floorboard near where Lanez had been seated, Bott told the courtroom, adding that Lanez and Harris both later tested positive for gunshot residue.
When asked why she didn't initially report the shooting, Megan reiterated her previous assertion that she wanted to protect everyone involved, especially during in the wake of the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
"This was at the height of police brutality... I felt like if I said this man just shot me, I didn't know if they might shoot first and ask questions later," she testified. She also noted how "in the Black community... it's not really acceptable to be cooperating with police officers."
Megan said her reasoning as two-fold because, as a woman in the music industry, "people have a hard time believing you anyway."
Texts from Lanez to Megan and Harris, in which he apologized and said he "genuinely just got too drunk" but "can't change what I did" were reportedly read in court. Lanez's defense attorneys claimed he was not admitting to shooting a gun, but to being sexually involved with both Megan and Harris.
After returning from a break, Megan's time on the witness stand continued, and the artist was reportedly visibly emotional.
"I’m having a really difficult time sitting up here comfortably telling my story," Megan told the court, according to Rolling Stone. "I've got to sit across from Tory ... I’m really trying to come off as a strong woman. I don’t want to give them the power they’ve been taking from me going on three years."
Megan also said that the alleged shooting -- and subsequently going public with her allegations -- has taken a toll on her life.
"Because I was shot, I’ve been turned into some kind of villain, and he’s the victim," Megan stated. "This has messed up my whole life."
Lanez was charged in October 2020 and pleaded not guilty to the charges. He has previously said that "the truth will come out."
In an interview for the July cover issue of Rolling Stone, Megan stated that at the conclusion of the trial, "I want him to go to jail. I want him to go under the jail."
In October 2020, Megan penned a New York Times op-ed addressing the lack of support she's received from other members of the hip-hop community and the ensuing public reaction to the allegations.
"I was recently the victim of an act of violence by a man. After a party, I was shot twice as I walked away from him. We were not in a relationship. Truthfully, I was shocked that I ended up in that place," she wrote. "My initial silence about what happened was out of fear for myself and my friends. Even as a victim, I have been met with skepticism and judgment. The way people have publicly questioned and debated whether I played a role in my own violent assault proves that my fears about discussing what happened were, unfortunately, warranted."
Read more about the ongoing trial against Lanez below.
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