As we get ever closer to the start of the assault trial against Tory Lanez for allegedly shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot, let’s look at how we got here.
The Canadian rapper is facing more than 22 years in prison if convicted in what could possibly be the most followed trial in recent times. So let’s look at all the things that have brought us up to this point.
Let’s go back to when everything was good between the rappers, that’s in the thick of the pandemic.
The date is April 24, 2020 and a video of Megan and Tory hanging out is shared on social media.
Fast forward a couple months. It’s July 2020 and the duo are attending a party thrown by Kylie Jenner in the Hollywood Hills.
This is where things go left. An argument reportedly occurs between Megan and Tory prompting them to leave the party.
On their way home, their vehicle is pulled over by the police and Tory Lanez is arrested for carrying a concealed firearm in his vehicle. Megan herself, has been injured somehow and has to be taken to the hospital. TMZ release a video of the arrest in the days that followed.
Then comes the big news, Megan reveals she was actually shot in the foot. In a now deleted Instagram post, she wrote
“On Sunday morning, I suffered gunshot wounds, as a result of a crime that was committed against me and done with the intention to physically harm me.”
She continued, “I was never arrested, the police officers drove me to the hospital where I underwent surgery to remove the bullets. I’m incredibly grateful to be alive and that I’m expected to make a full recovery, but it was important for me to clarify the details about this traumatic night.”
On August 20, the Houston-born rapper went live on Instagram and called Tory Lanez out as the actual shooter.
“You shot me, and you got your publicist and your people going to these blogs, lying and s***,” she said. “Stop lying. Why lie? I don’t understand. I tried to keep the situation off the internet, but you’re dragging it.”
She added that while she, her friend, Lanez and his bodyguard were driving home from the party, there was an argument in the car that led to her leaving the car and Tory shooting at her from the backseat.
When the police arrived, Megan says she did not tell them what happened out of fear for her own life. “The police was literally killing people for no motherf-cking reason,” she said. “You think I’m about to tell the police that we, us Black people, got a gun in the car?”
Tory Lanez quickly denied the accusation. In September, he released a new album titled DAYSTAR claiming his innocence and even questioning if Megan actually got shot.
“How the fuck you get shot in your foot, don’t hit no bones or tendons,” he sings.
October 8 2020, the LA County district attorney’s office officially charges Tory Lanez with felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
“On July 12, the defendant and the 24-year-old victim got into an argument while riding in an SUV in the Hollywood Hills,” prosecutors said in a news release. “The victim exited the vehicle and Peterson is accused of shooting several times at her feet and wounding her.”
The next week, a Los Angeles judge issues a protective order against Tory Lanez, forbidding him from getting within 100 yards of Megan Thee Stallion.
“You have been served orally and the court is ordering your attorney to provide you with that protective order,” LA County Superior Court Judge Miguel Espinoza told Lanez.
Almost a year later, July 2021 Tory violates the order.
The Canadian rapper attends and perfoms at the Rolling Loud festival just moments after Megan left the stage. As a result, a judge increased his bail from $190,000 to $250,000 the following month.
December 2021 and a preliminary hearing is held regarding the case
LAPD detective Ryan Stogner during the hearing testifies that based on interviews conducted with Megan, Tory Lanez yelled “dance, bitch” as he allegedly fired a gun at her feet.
“Megan immediately felt pain to her feet, observed blood, fell to the ground, and then crawled to an adjacent driveway of a residence. … She described her injuries as bleeding profusely,” Stogner testified.
The detective continued, saying that Tory “apologized for doing it and offered her money and begged her to please not say anything and made a reference to the fact he was already on probation and he begged her not to say anything.”
On April 24 2022, Megan Thee Stallion sits with Gayle King on CBS Mornings in her first televised interview about the incident.
“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, bitch.’ And he started shooting. And I’m just like, ‘Oh, my God.’ Like, he shot a couple of times. And I was so scared,” said Megan Thee Stallion.
“He is standing up over the window shooting.” She says. “And I didn’t even want to move. I didn’t want to move too quick. I don’t know if he’s gonna shoot something that’s, like, super important. I don’t know if he could shoot me and kill me.”
October 2022 and Tory has now been placed on house arrest.
He was placed on house arrest by the judge after an altercation with singer August Alsina while out on bail. Alsina took to Instagram to share a photo of himself bloodied in an elevator claiming he was assaulted by Lanez.
“Peterson was placed on house arrest today by the court starting Monday until his trial date as a result of his alleged altercation with August Alsina,” a spokesperson for the L.A. County district attorney’s office told The Times.
December 2022 and a third felony charge
The prosecutors added a third charge to the rapper’s other two charges. The charge, a felony negligent discharge of a firearm charge was added to the previous charges; assault with a semiautomatic firearm and carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle – which he has pleaded not guilty to.
This additional new charge carries a maximum six-year jail sentence as well as possible deportation for the rapper. On Monday, he was also released from house arrest so he could prepare for the trial.
And that brings us to where we are now. A lot will be revealed when the trial begins
