Judge Miguel Espinosa presides over the arraignment of Canadian rapper Tory Lanez, who appears by telephone, at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center on charges of assaulting rapper and singer Megan Thee Stallion, on Oct. 13, 2020, in Los Angeles, California. Megan Thee Stallion told a Los Angeles court on Tuesday, Dec. 13,2022, that Lanez offered her $1 million not to tell police he had shot her feet. DAVID MCNEW / Getty Images via AFP
LOS ANGELES, United States—Rapper Tory Lanez offered Megan Thee Stallion $1 million not to tell police he had shot her feet, she told a Los Angeles court on Tuesday.
Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, denies a raft of charges relating to a 2020 dispute with the rap queen, including assault with a semiautomatic firearm and using a firearm to inflict great bodily injury.
The “WAP” hitmaker said she had been in a car with Lanez, his bodyguard and her friend Kelsey Harris after a party at Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood home in July of that year when an argument erupted.
Megan Thee Stallion—whose real name is Megan Pete—said she and Lanez had become close in the months before the incident, and occasionally had sex.
Harris, who only learned of the sexual relationship that night, had a “crush” on Lanez, the witness said, and an argument then erupted in the car, with Megan Thee Stallion demanding to be let out of the vehicle.
The “Savage” singer said she saw Lanez pointing a gun at her and opening fire “after he said, ‘Dance, bitch.'”
“I’m in shock. I’m scared. I hear the gun going off and I can’t believe he’s shooting at me,” she told the court.
“I did not know he had a gun that night.”
In pain and bleeding from both feet, Megan Thee Stallion—who was wearing only a thong bikini—eventually agreed to get back into the car.
“He started apologizing,” she said, and said to her, “‘Don’t say anything and I’ll give you a million dollars.'”
Police stopped the car a short time later, and Megan Thee Stallion was transported to hospital for treatment, telling police that she had cut her feet on broken glass.
The “Hot Girl Summer” artist said in mid-2020—in the wake of the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor—she did not want to talk to officers.
“At the time, we are at the height of police brutality…. I felt like if I said this man has just shot me, they might shoot first and ask questions later,” she said.
“I don’t feel safe in the car. I don’t feel safe with the police officers either.”
And, she added “in the Black community, it’s not really acceptable to be cooperating with police officers.”
The trial in downtown Los Angeles earlier heard how a gun that was still warm to the touch was found on the floor near where Lanez had been sitting.
Lanez and Harris both subsequently tested positive for gunshot residue, a prosecutor said.
For Lanez, attorney George Mgdesyan said Monday that the jury needed to keep an open mind.
He insisted this was a “case about jealousy,” and that he would prove the accusations against his client were lies. /ra
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