Tory Lanez sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting Megan Thee Stallion

Tory Lanez was sentenced to 10 years in prison today for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in both feet in 2020, according to TMZ.

The rapper, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, has been jailed since December 2022 when a jury found him guilty of three charges: assault with a semiautomatic firearm; possession of a concealed, unregistered firearm; and negligent discharge of a firearm. While the verdict led to chaos and shouting in the courtroom from Peterson’s family and supporters, Megan Thee Stallion (legal name Megan Pete) called the decision “a victory for every woman who has ever been shamed, dismissed, and blamed for a violent crime committed against them.”

The incident that led to the contentious trial occurred after a party Pete and Peterson both attended on the night of July 12, 2020. Per Pete’s testimony, the shooting occurred in response to an argument between the two rappers that began while they were in an SUV together (along with Peterson’s bodyguard and Pete’s ex-friend Kelsey Harris) and escalated when their respective careers came into play. The second time Pete tried to exit the vehicle (and thus the argument), Peterson shouted “Dance bitch,” and shot at both her feet, she stated.

In addition to the trauma and lasting nerve damage caused by the shooting itself, Pete also experienced a barrage of misogyny, mistrust, and bullying from Peterson’s supporters and even fellow music industry peers over the course of the two-and-a-half-year trial. Pete reflected on this experience in a powerful personal essay published in Elle, in which she asserts that she sees herself as a survivor rather than a victim because “I have truly survived the unimaginable”—not just “being shot by someone I trusted and considered a close friend” but also “the public humiliation of having my name and reputation dragged through the mud by that individual for the entire world to see.”

“For anyone who has survived violence, please know your feelings are valid. You matter. You are not at fault. You are important. You are loved. You are not defined by your trauma. You can continue to write beautiful, new chapters to your life story,” she wrote. “Just because you are in a bad situation doesn’t mean you are a bad person. Our value doesn’t come from the opinions of other people. As long as you stand your ground and live in your truth, nobody can take your power.”