Tory Lanez is On Trial, Not Megan Thee Stallion

She has been under endless public scrutiny since the day rapper Megan thee Stallion – née Megan Pete – revealed that she was shot during an argument on her way back from a party at Kylie Jenner’s house in July 2020 and blamed Tory Lanez observation . Her decision-making on that fateful night, the speculated series of events that put her in such a precarious position, her memory of what happened, and the available footage have been sifted through with such a fine comb that one might think Megan it was in court, despite the official designation of the ongoing court case: the People of California v Daystar Peterson (first name Lanez). Lanez was charged with assault with a semi-automatic handgun, carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and firing a firearm in a grossly negligent manner. He pleaded not guilty and faces up to 22 years in prison if convicted. The jury is currently deliberating, but some are unverified blogs have prematurely announced an acquittal for Lanez.

Originally, Lanez and his supporters claimed Megan was never shot, after admitting in a CBS interview that since it was shortly after the police killing of George Floyd and the LAPD was constantly clashing with protesters, she told authorities she stepped on broken glass instead to be shot back in 2020.

Lanez fueled these claims with the opening track on his 2020 album, day star, “Money Over Fallouts”: “I gotta see some questions / How the hell do you get shot in the foot / Don’t you hit bone or tendon?” Lanez then continued to sow suspicion in the court of public opinion, dismissing textual evidence of his apology, tweeting a counter-narrative about a love triangle between him, Meg and her former assistant and best friend Kelsey Harris: “Good D**k had I fuck 2 best friends…. and I got caught. What followed was two years of endless speculation and rumor on a network of blogs, influencers and high-profile social media platforms leading up to the trial, all working to uphold a conspiratorial premise of a black human being railroad into a criminal conviction.

The strength of Lanez’s support seemingly trumps his reach as an entertainer: the artist has never had a #1 debut for any of his nine projects that have charted on the Billboard 200, and has never made the top 10 on the Hot 100 any single where he is the main artist. There are a few caveats: Jack Harlow’s “Whats Poppin (Remix)” with Lanez landed at #2; Lanez Chixband 5 also topped the R&B charts in its debut week. To really understand his cultural foothold, you have to check out his Instagram Live business called Quarantine Radio. It was a boisterous digital experience that was part shock-jock banter, part burlesque show that regularly drew around 400,000 viewers on Instagram Live and quickly garnered him 2 million followers. Celebrities and entertainers from 21 Savage to Chris Brown to Swizz Beatz and DMX regularly popped up in chat and occasionally jumped live. Drake came along and the live broke 300,000 streams for the first time; Lizzo came and collected her flowers for the other BBWs who loved to twerk. It maximized the parasocial relationship between viewers and their favorite artists, while also capturing the essence of “Demon Era,” the wave of illegal Instagram strip clubs that swept the app, until Instagram downed many of those accounts and Quarantine Radio out of hand for violating community guidelines Castle.