AFP
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 โWAPโ hitmaker said she had been in a car with Lanez, his bodyguard and her friend Kelsey Harris after a party at Kylie Jennerโs 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 โcrushโ 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 โSavageโ singer said she saw Lanez pointing a gun at her and opening fire โafter he said, โDance, bitch.'โ
โIโm in shock. Iโm scared. I hear the gun going off and I canโt believe heโs shooting at me,โ she told the court.
โI 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.
โHe started apologizing,โ she said, and said to her โโDonโt say anything and Iโll 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 โHot 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.
โAt the time, we are at the height of police brutalityโฆ. I felt like if I said this man has just shot me, they might shoot first and ask questions later,โ she said.
โI donโt feel safe in the car. I donโt feel safe with the police officers either.โ
And, she added โin the Black community, itโs 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 โcase about jealousy,โ and that he would prove the accusations against his client were lies.