Canadian rapper Tory Lanez has been handed a 10-year prison sentence, more than seven months after being convicted of shooting fellow musical artist Megan Thee Stallion and injuring her feet following a pool party in the Hollywood Hills in July 2020.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Herriford announced the sentence on Tuesday for the 31-year-old Lanez, who was found guilty of three felonies: assault with a semiautomatic firearm, possessing a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
During the sentencing hearing, Judge Herriford acknowledged the challenge of reconciling the benevolent and kind persona that many had described Lanez as with the person who had fired the gun at Megan Thee Stallion. The judge remarked, “Sometimes good people do bad things,” emphasising that actions have consequences and that there were no winners in this case.
Megan Thee Stallion recounted in her testimony that Lanez fired the gun at her feet and ordered her to dance as she walked away from an SUV they had been in after leaving a pool party at Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood Hills residence in July 2020. The incident led to Megan having to undergo surgery to remove bullet fragments. A statement read by a prosecutor on Monday conveyed Megan’s ongoing struggle: “Since I was viciously shot by the defendant, I have not experienced a single day of peace. Slowly but surely, I’m healing and coming back, but I will never be the same.”
The conclusion of this high-profile trial has ignited discussions in the hip-hop community, touching on issues such as the challenges Black victims face when dealing with law enforcement, gender dynamics within hip-hop, online toxicity, the protection of Black women, and the impact of misogynoir – a specific form of misogyny experienced by Black women.
Just prior to his sentence being declared, Lanez appealed for mercy from Judge Herriford, seeking either probation or a minimal prison term. He expressed remorse, saying, “If I could turn back the series of events that night and change them, I would. The victim was my friend. The victim is someone I still care for to this day. Everything I did wrong that night, I take full responsibility for.”
The sentence was accompanied by approximately 10 months of credit for the time Lanez has already spent in custody since his conviction in December. Lanez’s lead lawyer, Jose Baez, expressed strong disappointment outside the court, remarking, “We’re extremely disappointed. I have seen vehicular homicide and other cases where there’s death and the defendant still gets less than 10 years.”
Megan Thee Stallion did not attend the sentencing hearing, citing her inability to be in the same room as Lanez. However, a statement she wrote was read aloud in court. In it, she said, “He not only shot me, he made a mockery of my trauma. This is a statement for all survivors that their lives matter and there is zero tolerance for the torture that accompanies violence.”
Megan Thee Stallion had earned Grammy awards for best new artist, best rap performance, and best rap song in 2021.
