Singer Tory Lanez has been sentenced to ten years in prison by a court in Los Angeles for shooting Megan Thee Stallion three years ago. He shot the Grammy winner in the feet during an argument in 2020.
The canadian rapper was found guilty on three gun-related charges in December and has been held in jail since. In December, he was convicted with assault with a semi-automatic firearm, having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. Tory pleaded not guilty to all three.
Megan was not in attendance for the sentencing, but the prosecuting lawyer Edward Welbourn described the incident as ‘a heinous act of violence against a defenceless woman and a multi-year campaign of harassment’.
He added: ‘Megan got lucky that night, but her luck shouldn't negate [Lanez's] culpability... her luck is not his luck.’
‘If Megan had died, we would be here for a murder sentencing. And she could have died.’
Commenting on why Megan didn’t attend court in person, Welbourn explained that she was ‘too intimidated and too scared to be in the same courtroom as the defendant.
‘She will be affected by this for the rest of her life.’
And yet, despite the crime that Tory Lanez has been sentenced for, many of his fans have started an online campaign against Megan. Here’s everything we know.
Why did Tory Lanez shoot Megan Thee Stallion?
The incident happened after the pair left a party at Kylie Jenner’s house in 2020.
Back in December, the court heard that he fired a gun at the back of Megan’s feet and shouted at her to dance as she walked away, resulting in him shooting five times at her foot.
‘I'm in shock. I'm scared,’ she told jurors at the trial, according to the Los Angeles Times. ‘I hear the gun going off, and I can't believe he's shooting at me.’ She also described seeing blood after the incident.
Is Megan Thee Stallion alive?
Yes, the singer sustained injuries but was not fatally hurt by the incident.
Why is Megan Thee Stallion getting backlash online?
Fans have started a #FreeTory hashtag, with some even saying they’ll be ‘cancelling’ Megan Thee Stallion due to the new music that she ‘took’ from them because he will now be in prison for what he did to her.
One tweeted: ‘I’m deleting all Megan Thee Stallion’s songs from my phone. From today, she has been cancelled. Free Tory Lanez’, while another posted a link to Tory's music and wrote: 'This is what Meg Thee Stallion took from us This is so fucked FREE TORY.'
Looking at this reaction to a woman who was injured by a man, there seems to be no limit to the lengths that some will go to to put women in the crossfire, when the focus should be on the violence committed against them by men.
What has Tory Lanez said about the conviction and Megan Thee Stallion?
In court, Tory stated that he still considered himself and Megan ‘friends’. He went on to reference his ‘drunk’ behaviour, along with others, and immature things he said.
‘That night was a night that everyone was drunk... I said some very immature things… If I could turn back the series of events... I would, but I can't.’
Tory insisted he wasn’t a ‘callous individual’: ‘But to think that I am some sort of callous individual is not the case. The victim was my friend... [and] she still is to this day.
‘I did wrong that night and I take full responsibility and culpability for it.’