Megan Thee Stallion testifies about alleged shooting in Tory Lanez trial: 'I felt shocked'
Megan Thee Stallion took the witness stand in a Los Angeles courtroom on Tuesday, where the hip-hop star recounted the events that led up to the night when she was allegedly shot and injured by rapper Tory Lanez in the Hollywood Hills.
The Grammy-winning artist, whose legal name is Megan Pete, testified that on the night of July 12, 2020, she got out of a car following an argument with Lanez and as she walked away, she turned her head and saw him with a gun, according to a reporter with Los Angeles ABC station KABC who was in the courtroom.
"He was holding the gun pointing at me," she said, according to KABC, and claimed that he said "dance b----" and fired his gun, injuring both her feet.
"I froze...I felt shocked," she said. "I wasn't really sure if this was happening...I looked at the ground and saw the blood…everyone was shocked."
Megan also alleged that Lanez offered her money to stay quiet, claiming that he apologized to her as police arrived on the scene and said, "Please don't say anything, I'll give you $1 million."
Megan Thee Stallion's attorney Alex Spiro told ABC News in a phone interview following her testimony on Tuesday that her main message was that "she's a victim of a shooting and that's what this case is about and that's the truth. End of story."
Lanez's attorneys did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment following Megan's testimony.
According to prosecutors, Lanez "personally inflicted great bodily injury" upon Megan after the two got into an argument while riding in an SUV in the Hollywood Hills, resulting in an injury in both her feet for which she received medical treatment.
Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, was initially charged in October 2020 with one felony count each of assault with a semiautomatic firearm (personal use of a firearm), and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle, according to charging documents obtained by ABC News. "Personal use of a firearm" is not a separate charge but a sentencing enhancement linked to the first count that increases Lanez' possible sentence.
Lanez was charged last week with an additional felony count of discharging a firearm with gross negligence, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office confirmed to ABC News.
Lanez pleaded not guilty to all three felony counts in this case.
"We are confident that at the conclusion of this trial the truth will come out and Mr. Peterson will be exonerated of all charges," Lanez' attorney Sarkis Manukyan told ABC News last week.
If he is convicted as charged, he faces up to 22 years and 8 months in prison, according to prosecutors.
Opening statements and testimony in Lanez' case began on Monday.
In the defense's opening statement on Monday, attorneys for Lanez claimed that this is a case of "jealousy."
When asked about the defense's argument that this is a case about "jealousy," Spiro said, "it's obviously absurd and an attempt at distraction. [Tory Lanez] shot her and that's what the case is about."
According to prosecutors, Megan's former friend Kelsey Harris and Lanez' bodyguard were present when the shooting took place and Harris is expected to testify on Wednesday. A doctor who treated Megan's foot injuries is set to take the witness stand on Thursday.
"I still have nerve damage," Megan said on the stand according to KABC, describing the surgery she had in her feet.
Lanez was arrested on July 12, 2020, after police were called by a witness in the area where they found a gun in the car.
But the rapper was not charged in the case until Oct. 8, 2020, after Los Angeles police shared their findings with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Megan testified on Tuesday that when police arrived at the scene she did not reveal that she had been shot or that there was a gun in the car because she feared the police would have a violent response.
Describing a fear of police brutality in the Black community, she also said that she also did not tell the doctors that she was shot.
"At the time we were at a high with police brutality with George Floyd," she said, adding that she was "afraid" and "didn't want to see anyone shot."
She also described her fear of police when she first named Lanez as her alleged shooter in an Instagram Live video on Aug. 21, 2022.
In the video, Megan said that she initially "tried to spare" him.
"Yes...Tory shot me. You shot me and you got your publicist and your people going to these blogs lying," she added. "Stop lying. Why lie? I don't understand."
Before he was charged, Lanez denied shooting Megan in a lyric on his album, "Daystar," released on Sept. 25, 2020.
"I ain't do it," he claims on the album's opening song, "Money Over Fallouts," and claims, "Megan people tryna frame me for a shootin'."
This case has sparked intense debates over society's treatment of women and Megan's account of the incident -- and the intense public vitriol she faced after sharing her story -- has spotlighted the Protect Black Women movement, which addresses the two-front battle of sexism and racism that Black women experience in their own communities and in society at large.
Advocates from women's groups and violence prevention organizations rallied outside the courtroom on Tuesday in support of Megan ahead of her testimony.
"We are Megan Thee Stallion," Luis Hernandez, the national director of youth campaigns and leadership at the nonprofit Gathering for Justice, told ABC News on Tuesday.
"Many of us have experienced violence and abuse at the hands of the judicial system but also by intimate partners and other community members, and so it's critical that we show up in support of her," Hernandez said.
ABC News' Abigail Shalawylo, Zohreen Shah and Amanda Su contributed to this report.
