Entertainment

Megan Thee Stallion ‘not treated as human’ following shooting

In December 2021, Canadian rapper Lanez was convicted of assaulting her and later sentenced to a decade behind bars.

Megan Thee Stallion
Megan Thee Stallion (Doug Peters/PA)

Megan Thee Stallion has spoken about her experiences in the aftermath of being shot.

Canadian rapper Tory Lanez was sentenced to a decade behind bars in August 2023 for assaulting the 29-year-old US hip hop star, whose real name is Megan Pete.

She told Women’s Health Magazine: “A lot of people didn’t treat me like I was human for a long time.

“I feel like everybody was always used to me being the fun and happy party girl. I watched people build me up, tear me down, and be confused about their expectations of me.

“As a black woman, as a darker black woman, I also feel like people expect me to take the punches, take the beating, take the lashings, and handle it with grace. But I’m human.”

Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion
Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion (Doug Peters/PA)

Megan Thee Stallion also said struggled with her mental health, often staying in her bedroom with the lights off.

She said: “I didn’t want to see the sun. I knew I wasn’t myself. It took me a while to acknowledge that I was depressed. But once I started talking to a therapist, I was able to be truthful with myself.”

Since then, she has undergone therapy and is planning to release a third album and launch a Hot Girl Summer tour this year.

“I was inspired to create this album about rebirth because I feel I am becoming a new person physically and mentally,” Megan Thee Stallion said.

During the trial, the court heard Lanez fired a gun at Megan Thee Stallion’s feet and shouted for her to dance as she walked away from an SUV in which they had been riding in July 2020.

Two of the bullets hit her in the foot after the pair had left a party at Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood Hills home.

In December 2021, Lanez was convicted of assault with a semi-automatic firearm, having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.

Following his sentencing, he maintained his “innocence” and that he was “wrongfully convicted” while refusing to apologise on social media.

“I have never let a hard time intimidate me. I will never never let no jail time eliminate me,” Lanez also wrote.