Megan Thee Stallion on Tuesday testified that she saw Tory Lanez and not Kelsey Harris, who shot her.
The Houston rapper was called to the stand of the Downtown Los Angeles court as the first prosecution witness on Tuesday. Tory Lanez is on trial for assault with a firearm, illegal possession of a firearm, as well as an additional charge of negligent discharge of a gun in relation to shooting Megan Thee Stallion in July 2020.
According to Los Angeles Times reporter James Queally, Megan became emotional after Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Kathy Ta questioned whether she knew Lanez.
“I just don’t feel good… I can’t believe I have to come in here and do this,” Megan said.
The prosecution quizzed Megan about the events of the day, starting with the party at Kylie Jenner’s house. According to Megan, she asked to leave the event, which displeased Tory. She denied the defense’s claim that she was kicked out of the party for going on a drunken tirade.
The rapper went on to describe the events as summarized by the prosecution on Monday, which is that she, along with Tory, Kelsey Harris, and Tory’s bodyguard, were in an SUV when an argument erupted between her and Tory while on Nichols Canyon Road.
“I’m in the peak of being famous and I’m in a thong … and I look all crazy,” Megan explained the reason for remaining in the SUV.
During the argument, Megan said Tory told her “to stop lying” to Harris about their involvement which led to an uproar from Kelsey. Megan also confirmed that she and Tory did have a “sexual relationship” after spending time as friends and bonding over the loss of their mothers.
This would be the first time Megan has admitted to accusations by Tory that they had a sexual relationship. In Gail King’s interview earlier this year, she was adamant that she did not sleep with the rapper.
On the stand, Megan Thee Stallion explained that her now ex-best friend, Kelsey Harris, had a “crush” on Tory, and the information revealed by the Canadian singer led to an argument with Tory calling both women “b**ches and hoes.”
Tory also made remarks about Megan’s career, and she replied in kind. She said this set off the rapper and led to her requesting the driver to stop and let her out of the SUV.
Megan claims that she was walking away from the SUV when Tory fired five shots towards her before shouting, “dance, b**ch!”
“I’m in shock. I’m scared. I hear the gun going off and I can’t believe he’s shooting at me. [Lanez] looked shocked. Kelsey looked shocked. JaQuan [the driver/Lanez security] looked shocked,” Megan said.
Megan explained that she returned to the car out of fear that the police might hurt them if they called for help.
“At this time we are at the height of police brutality… I felt if I said this man had shot me, they might shoot first and ask questions later. I don’t feel safe in the car. I don’t feel safe with the police,” she said.
The Hotties rapper shared that while they were in the SUV and she tried to use towels to stop the bleeding, Tory Lanez promised to pay her and Kelsey $1 million each if they did not report the incident to the police. The rapper claimed that he would be in serious trouble as he was on probation for another weapons case.
Megan Thee Stallion has been heavily criticized for not reporting the shooting right as it happened, as Lanez was charged weeks later. However, Megan explained that she was fearful because “in the Black community, it’s not really acceptable to be cooperating with police officers.”
Megan also testified that Tory had reached out to her to apologize for shooting her. She even described a phone call where Tory told her that he could see “the pain in her eyes” from a video of her bleeding and being approached by police officers.
“Why are you being weird? You know you shot me and now you’re watching me?” Megan said in court in reference to that call.
When pressed as to why she took weeks to publicly identify Lanez as the shooter, Megan said she was fearful that her young career could be clipped, especially in a male-dominated industry like hip hop.
“This whole situation in the industry is like a big boys club,” Megan testified on the witness stand. “Like I’m telling on one of y’all friends, now you’re all about to hate me.”
Megan’s testimony will be cross-examined by defence counsel George Mgdesyan. The defense has questioned Megan’s reasons for not immediately reporting the shooting and has hinted that her best friend, Kelsey was the one who fired the gun after the two women fought over him following the disclosure of their sexual relationship in the car.
The prosecution has outlined evidence to come from Harris that she saw Tory Lanez shoot Megan Thee Stallion. The high profile trial is expected to wrap this week.
