This Rapper Was Accused Of Shooting Megan Thee Stallion, Then Made An Album About It
It's on track to be the most vile album of 2020.
Canadian rapper Tory Lanez — real name Daystar Peterson — has broken his silence over allegations he shot Megan Thee Stallion in July, with a 17-track album in which he denies the allegations, and claimed Megan is lying to ruin his career.
Lanez had previously been silent about the allegations, which emerged after he was arrested in mid-July for concealed weapons and released on $35,000 bail. Megan was in a car with Lanez and two others at the time of arrest, after leaving a party at Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood home.
It’s believed police pulled them over following a gunshot heard outside another home, with the 911 caller describing their vehicle. Megan initially told police she had cut her feet on broken glass.
In the weeks that followed, Megan claimed to have been shot in her foot, and later posted then deleted photos of the injury as proof before naming Lanez as the culprit. She claimed they had gotten into an argument, prompting Lanez to shoot her.
“Yes, this [epithet] Tory shot me,” she said in an Instagram live on August 20 (via Variety). “You shot me, and you got your publicist and your people to [talk to] these blogs, lying and shit. Stop lying!”
Megan also said she originally told police she had glass in her foot due to fears of escalating the situation, given the US police’s history of brutality against Black people.
“The police come, I’m scared,” she said. “Police was literally killing black people for no reason. The police is really aggressive. You think I’m about to tell the police that us black people got a gun in the car?”
The LAPD is currently investigating the incident, and Lanez is due to appear in court in October over the concealed weapon charges. He has been silent on social media since the incident, before surprise-releasing his fifth album Daystar on Saturday after posting the album artwork on Instagram.
“There is a time to stay silent,” he wrote in the caption. “And a time to speak ….. I said all I could say on this .. ALL PLATFORMS… in 5 MINUTES.”
Lanez repeatedly returns to the alleged shooting across the album. On opening track ‘Money Over Fallouts’, he accuses the ‘WAP’ rapper of lying about the shooting, implies she is trying to pay him off to stay silent, and has lost “10 million” due to the allegations.
“Gotta see a couple questions: how the fuck you get shot in your foot, don’t hit no bones or tendons?,” he raps. “How the fuck your team is tryna to pay me in some whole millions? I just lost like ten million dollars because this cold business.”
Later, on ‘Queen and Slim’, Lanez claims that Megan was “too drunk” that night and that they’ve never had an argument, and on ‘Sorry But I Had To…’ claims Megan was jealous of his flirting with Kylie Jenner.
On ‘In The Air’, he says the allegations are a test from God: “He’s using Megan as a vessel and a test of faith.” Across the album, he also derides ‘cancel culture’ and celebrates Chris Brown as another man who can’t catch a break from critics.
Daystar was immediately criticised over the album, particularly as it arrived one day after a court declined to charge the police officers who shot Breonna Taylor six times in her home in a raid this March, killing her — a case which has become symbolic of how violence against Black women has little-to-no repercussions.
Hip-hop website High Snobiety has announced they will no longer cover Lanez, calling his behaviour “disgraceful”.
“In 1962, Malcolm X said that ‘the most disrespected person in America is the black woman’,” the site wrote in a statement. “Taylor’s memory has been used to sell magazines, get clicks, and win political favour. And yet, the police officers responsible for her death were not brought to justice. ”
“Lanez has used the same logic to promote his album, exploiting the trauma enacted on Black women for financial and cultural gain, while refusing to protect them or acknowledge their culpability. And that’s why you’ll never see him on our website or social platforms again.”
Megan has responded indirectly, posting a photo of herself to Instagram wearing rings that spell out ‘Fuck You’.
Lanez has also been criticised by many rappers, including J.R. Smith, Asian Doll and Dream Doll, who are all dissed by name on track ‘Sorry But I Had To…’, alongside Cardi B and other rappers who had expressed support for Megan.
Rick Ross also called the release a ‘poor choice’ that showed a lack of respect for Black women.
“Just out of respect for Breonna Taylor. Just out of respect for Breonna Taylor, brother,” Ross said on Instagram. “We gotta respect these sisters. That ain’t how you address the accusations you facing with the sister. That was a a poor choice, homie. You ain’t getting no money with that shit.”
Most recently, Megan collaborated with Cardi B for ‘WAP’. Find it below.