Tory Lanez offered Megan Thee Stallion $1m over shooting, court hears

AFP
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Los Angeles (AFP) โ€“ 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 โ€œWAPโ€ hitmaker said she had been in a car with Lanez, his bodyguard and her friend Kelsey Harris after a party at Kylie Jennerโ€™s Hollywood home in July of that year when an argument erupted.

Megan Thee Stallion โ€” whose real name is Megan Pete โ€” 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 โ€œcrushโ€ 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 โ€œSavageโ€ singer said she saw Lanez pointing a gun at her and opening fire โ€œafter he said, โ€˜Dance, bitch.'โ€

โ€œIโ€™m in shock. Iโ€™m scared. I hear the gun going off and I canโ€™t believe heโ€™s shooting at me,โ€ she told the court.

โ€œI did not know he had a gun that night.โ€

In pain and bleeding from both feet, Megan Thee Stallion โ€” who was wearing only a thong bikini โ€” eventually agreed to get back into the car.

โ€œHe started apologizing,โ€ she said, and said to her โ€œโ€˜Donโ€™t say anything and Iโ€™ll give you a million dollars.'โ€

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 โ€œHot Girl Summerโ€ artist said in mid-2020 โ€” in the wake of the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor โ€” she did not want to talk to officers.

โ€œAt the time, we are at the height of police brutalityโ€ฆ. I felt like if I said this man has just shot me, they might shoot first and ask questions later,โ€ she said.

โ€œI donโ€™t feel safe in the car. I donโ€™t feel safe with the police officers either.โ€

And, she added โ€œin the Black community, itโ€™s not really acceptable to be cooperating with police officers.โ€

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 โ€œcase about jealousy,โ€ and that he would prove the accusations against his client were lies.