Tory Lanez was sentenced Aug. 8, 2023, to 10 years in prison in a Los Angeles court for shooting and wounding Megan Thee Stallion in July 2020. Lanez, who was convicted on Dec. 23, 2022 for shooting and wounding Stallion, was to be sentenced in January, but was delayed after Lanez filed a motion for a new trial. The motion was denied in May.
The Canadian rapper, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, was found guilty on Dec. 23, 2022. Prosecutors filed a motion in May asking the judge to sentence the rapper to 10 years in prison. Prosecutors argued in the filing that Lanez was indeed insensitive to the victim.
Tory Lanez chose not to take the stand during the trial. His defense attorneys argued during the trial that Lanez was not the perpetrator of the shooting, but to no avail as Tory will go to prison. The case has sparked intense debates about society’s treatment of women.
Megan Thee Stallion’s account of the incident (and the intense public hatred she faced after sharing her story) highlighted the Protect Black Women movement, which addresses the two-pronged battle of sexism and racism faced by black women in their own communities and in society at large.
On Monday, the Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney read a statement from Megan The Stallion. “Since being assaulted by him, I have not experienced a single day of peace,” it read. “Slowly but surely, I am healing and coming back, but I will never be the same.”
The star said she struggled deciding whether to give the statement in person, but in the end didn’t go to the court because “I just couldn’t bring myself to be in a room with Tory again.” Megan said she had been “tormented and terrified,” adding that she “went into a spiral of darkness and rage” when Lanez mocked her trauma.
