Erik Voake
After the LA Times confirmed a Los Angeles judge upheld assault charges against Tory Lanez in the shooting incident involving Houston rapper Megan Thee Stallion, fans supported the decision and congratulated the recent Texas Southern University graduate on the big leap forward in the case. The news revealed some startling truths about how society often shames domestic violence victims.
Sadly, Megan Thee Stallion’s shooting accusations against Tory are still widely speculated across social media, with men, in particular, arguing whether the Grammy-award-winning rapper is being truthful about the events that unfolded that harrowing night.
“Tory innocent,” wrote one male user on Twitter following the announcement of his upheld charges. “A whole with no broken bones or tendons?” another male social media user wrote in response to Megan’s injuries. “Gtfo here!” While a third-social media goer shockingly commented, “This is a waste of time. The man dropped a fire album and they want to slow him down.”
The ongoing assault case against Tory Lanez brings to question Black mens’ discernment on violence against Black women. Twitter user @Krakoan4Life touched on the phenomenon in a tweet:
Another Twitter user responded, “Some of y’all have some growing up to do. For y’all to think this is so unbelievable shows how little y’all know about domestic violence and how common it is. One day your eyes will be open to how real DV is.”
Black women face violence at disproportionate rates, particularly at the hands of those familiar to them. The Violence Policy Center reported that “Black women were two and a half times more likely to be murdered by men than their white counterparts. Ninety percent of Black female victims know their killers.”
On Dec. 14, Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, lashed out in court following the County judge’s decision to uphold assault charges stemming from his alleged shooting of the “Hot Girl Summer” hitmaker back in July 2020. At the hearing, Tory Lanez shook his head with dismay as LAPD Detective Ryan Stogner took the stand describing Megan’s harrowing account of what happened that night as the two left a party at Kylie Jenner’s house in the Hollywood Hills. Stogner said the two artists got into a roadside dispute while riding in an SUV together. The Houston rapper demanded to get out of the car as the tension between the two stars came to a boiling point. According to Stogner, as Megan walked out of the vehicle, Lanez, who was allegedly “intoxicated,” shouted “Dance, bitch!” right before pulling the trigger at her foot, The LA Times reported.
A cellphone transcript revealed that Lanez, 29, made a frantic call to a close friend of Meg’s apologizing for the shooting.
“I’m deeply sorry … so I feel crazy that I made a mistake,” Lanez said, according to a partial transcript of the call read in court by Los Angeles County deputy district attorney Kathy Ta.
“What happened, happened already. I can’t take it back. I’m just telling y’all I’m sorry,” he allegedly said.
Lanez’s attorney argued that the call made no mention as to what he was apologizing about, to which the “Say It” rapper reportedly yelled out in court, “How about you tell me what I was apologizing for, bro? That don’t make no sense!”
RELATED CONTENT: Nah: Judge Denies Tory Lanez’s Request To Speak About Megan Thee Stallion Case
Additionally, Tory’s legal team grilled Stogner as to why Megan did not initially address officials about the shooting after the incident. He said the young business mogul was “afraid” by the “recent police shootings” and was worried that Tory would potentially become another victim of police brutality if she testified about what happened. She was also scared about the unregistered weapon in the vehicle.
Lanez is now due back in court on Jan. 13. The rapper faces up to 22 years and 8 months in state prison if convicted, although rumors are already surfacing that prosecutors may be trying to convince the star to take a possible plea deal, Rolling Stone noted.
RELATED CONTENT: Tory Lanez To Testify About About Megan Thee Stallion Shooting In December
