Rapper and singer Tory Lanez was given a 10-year prison term on Tuesday for the July 2020 shooting and wounding of hip-hop icon Megan Thee Stallion.
In December 2022, Lanez, 31, was found guilty of all charges relating to the shooting of Megan Thee Stallion, including assault with a semiautomatic weapon, possession of an unlicensed firearm, and grossly negligent discharge of a firearm. According to the prosecution, Lanez “waged a campaign to humiliate and re-traumatize the victim” and sought a 13-year prison sentence for him.
The prosecutor's position that Lanez should receive the harshest penalty possible was mirrored by Megan Thee Stallion (also known as Megan Pete), who wrote to the judge that she “simply could not bring [herself] to be in a room with Tory again” but insisted that her absence shouldn't be interpreted as apathy.
But who is Tory Lanez and what happened between the two stars?
Who is Tory Lanez?
On July 27, 1992, Lanez, then known as Daystar Peterson, was born in Brampton, Ontario.
When he was younger, his family sent him to live in Queens, New York. However, he moved back to Toronto when he was 15 years old, where he stayed with his grandmother and concentrated on his music.
He launched his first track, I Told You, in 2016 after signing with Interscope and it reached at number four on the Billboard 200. Lanez sings and raps his life story on the narrative-driven, skit-heavy album while recounting his struggle to realise his musical goals and singing languid bedroom jams, most notably on the album's hugely successful single Say It.
Megan Thee Stallion made a guest appearance on his Quarantine Radio series, which was broadcast on Instagram Live in March 2020, the month Lanez and Megan were first seen together. In April, they broadcasted once more, this time from the same place, while Megan tried to teach him a dance while they drank tequila shots.
But at a late-night party at Kylie Jenner's Hollywood Hills house in July 2020, their friendship deteriorated into violence.
What happened between Tory Lanez and Megan Thee Stallion?
According to the prosecution, the two were riding in an SUV with Lanez's bodyguard, Kelsey Harris, a longtime friend of Megan Thee Stallion from whom she is now estranged, after leaving Jenner's home.
The prosecution added Megan Thee Stallion's criticism of Lanez's rap abilities caused a violent argument between the two musicians. She eventually begged to be allowed out of the vehicle, at which point, according to officials, Lanez allegedly opened fire on her.
Following numerous 911 calls in response to the gunfire, Los Angeles police officers pulled over the SUV near Hollywood Boulevard and discovered Megan Thee Stallion suffering from a foot wound. She initially claimed to have been harmed at Jenner's party after stepping on some shattered glass.
However, Megan Thee Stallion said on her Instagram account a few days after the incident that she had “suffered gunshot wounds” that required surgery but did not go into further detail. She then revealed that the shooter was Lanez, who had been detained and accused of hiding a gun in the car.
Lanez addressed the issue with rap lyrics that hinted at a divergent version, such as “We both know what happened that night and what I did/But it ain’t what they sayin.”
In October 2020, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office charged Lanez with assault.
