Megan Thee Stallion vs Torey Lanez case is exposing the “boys’ club” heart of the hip hop world
Megan Thee Stallion took the stand in a Los Angeles courtroom on Tuesday as she delivered an emotional testimony against Tory Lanez, a Canadian rapper and producer. Stallion became emotional when asked by the LA County Deputy District Attorney Kathy Ta if she was finding it difficult to open up about the incident, where she was said to be shot in the foot by Lanez following a dispute after leaving a party in LA.
Stallion relayed to the court how the incident left her in constant pain in her feet, and that going through the attack in the public eye was “torture”.
“I don’t want to be on this earth,” the rapper said at one point during the trial. “I wish he would have shot and killed me if I knew I would go through this torture.” She responded to the questions saying, “I try to be strong. I don’t like to look weak. I don’t want to give them the power that they’ve taken from me for the last three years.”
Ta went on to play an audio of gunshots, to which Megan responded confirming they sounded like the events of the night. “I’ve never been shot at before in my life,” she said. “As soon as he started shooting, I put my head down,” Stallion said, stating she did so as [she] was scared, and [she] didn’t move: “He said, ‘Dance bitch,’ and I turned to him and saw him shoot.”
Lanez was arrested at the time for having a concealed weapon and, after months of rumours, Stallion took to Instagram Live to confirm that Lanez had shot her.
However, in the testimony, Stallion remained teary and visibly frustrated, going on to suggest how the case has played out in favour of Lanez due to the support of male musicians in the industry. “Every man in a position of power in the music industry has taken his side,” she said. “Not a day goes by without [me] being called a liar. This whole thing is about who I was having sex with, not who shot me, and I don’t know why.”
Online, many are discussing the aftermath that has exposed what Stallion has called “a boys’ club” in rap and hip-hop, and how there needs to be more focus on the treatment and abuse of Black women in society. “I’ve turned into a type of villain while he’s a hero,” she said in the trial.
“I’m embarrassed because I’m a grown woman hanging out with people I have no business hanging out with,” she said about the incident. “Now look at how everybody wants to view me…. How could I share my body with someone who would shoot me… Now every week there’s an article calling me a ‘hoe’.”
Lanez’ lawyer George Mgdesyan said the jury needed to retain an open mind. Stallion also told the court that she had taken so long to come forward due to the 2020 nationwide social unrest against racial inequality. “At the time, we were at the height of police brutality. I felt like if I said this man has just shot me, they might shoot first and ask questions later.”
The information uncovered was in the second day of the trial, of which is said to continue for at least two weeks. Lanez could face over 22 years in prison if convicted on all the three counts including assault and having a concealed weapon in a vehicle, but as of yet, remains rigid in his plea of innocence.
