Here’s What You Need to Know About Megan Thee Stallion’s Testimony at Tory Lanez’s Trial

Megan Thee Stallion gave emotional testimony in court on Tuesday on the second day of the  long-awaited trial against Tory Lanez, a rapper and her former friend who allegedly shot her feet with a semiautomatic handgun in 2020. 

“I don’t wanna be on this earth,” Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Pete, said in court. “I wish he would have shot and killed me if I knew I would go through this torture.” 

Pete also testified about the emotional toll that reliving the incident so publicly has taken on her and the pain she experiences in her feet to this day. “I can't believe I have to come in here and do this,” said Pete, who is not on trial and just served as a witness.

For the last two years, the public case has been marred with disinformation, misogynoir, and conspiracy. Tweets and TikToks questioning Pete’s story have gone viral, and recently even Canadian rapper Drake released a track with the lyrics, “This bitch lie ‘bout gettin’ shots, but she still a stallion,” prompting speculation about whether he was referencing the alleged shooting assault.

Now, users on different social media platforms are yet again accusing Pete, a renowned rapper, of lying even before the jury has made a decision. 

In some ways, the attacks on Pete are reminiscent of the Amber Heard-Johnny Depp trial, yet another example of a celebrity trial that involved themes of domestic violence. VICE News previously reported how vicious online trolls are escalating their attacks as they target women, often by going after their sex lives, and the Heard-Depp trial created a “playbook” for them to do so. 

But for Megan Thee Stallion, a Black woman, the attacks are even worse: She has had to grapple with both racism and online harassment, or misogynoir, a specific brand of misogyny that’s heightened when a woman is also Black. In 2020 when the alleged shooting took place, advocates for Black women already told VICE News that online assault of Megan Thee Stallion is an example of how violence against Black women isn’t taken seriously.

Pete alluded to this reality in court on Tuesday and said the case has made her depressed and negatively affected her career. “Because Tory has come out and told so many lies about me, and making this all a sex scandal, people don’t want to touch me… It feels like I’m a sick bird,” she said.

On July 12, 2020, Lanez, who was born Daystar Peterson, allegedly shot Pete’s feet during an argument that took place after they left a pool party hosted by Kylie Jenner in Los Angeles. 

The fight escalated after the party, Pete told the court on Tuesday, after Pete’s former assistant and friend Kelsey Harris found out that Peterson and Pete were in a sexual relationship. Harris was allegedly romantically interested in Peterson as well. (Harris is also reportedly expected to take the stand and say that she saw Peterson fire the gun.) 

Pete exited the SUV as the argument continued. During opening statements on Monday, Los Angeles County Assistant District Attorney Alexander Bott reportedly told the court that Lanez allegedly then said “dance, bitch” while firing five shots at Pete from the vehicle. Lanez’ bodyguard was also in the car.

Police pulled the SUV over after the alleged incident and found a still-warm gun near the spot where Lanez’s card had been, Bott told the jury this week, adding that Lanez and Harris both tested positive for gunshot residue. 

At the time, Pete initially told authorities she stepped on glass. But a few weeks later, she said she was in fact shot. Doctors at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center confirmed she had bullet fragments in both feet. 

When asked Tuesday in court why she initially blamed her injuries on glass, Megan cited the distrust Black people have in law enforcement, and referenced the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by the police. "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 said. 

Pete also testified that Peterson asked her and Harris not to tell police what happened because he had prior legal issues. He even offered them $1 million each if they remained silent on the matter, Pete said. 

Peterson is currently facing three charges: assault with a semiautomatic firearm; discharging a firearm with gross negligence; and carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle. The rapper is facing more than 22 years in prison if convicted of all three. He has accused Pete of lying and maintains his innocence.

Prosecutors are expected to lean on text messages as evidence, including one in which Harris texted Peterson’s bodyguard saying, “Tory shot Meg,” and another in which Peterson apologized to Pete following the shooting, the Los Angeles Times reported.