Megan Thee Stallion was shot in both feet in the early hours of July 12, 2020, by Canadian rapper Tory Lanez, who fired a handgun at her as she walked away from an SUV in the Hollywood Hills. She underwent emergency surgery that night at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and tiny bullet fragments remain lodged in her feet. Lanez was convicted of three felonies in December 2022 and is serving a ten-year sentence at the California Men’s Colony near San Luis Obispo after exhausting his state appeals.
The Night of the Shooting
Megan (born Megan Pete), Lanez (born Daystar Peterson), Megan’s friend and former assistant Kelsey Harris, and Lanez’s bodyguard had left a pool party at Kylie Jenner’s home in the Hollywood Hills and were traveling together when an argument broke out inside the SUV. Megan testified that the dispute escalated after she mocked Lanez’s musical abilities, and she demanded to be let out of the vehicle.1BBC News. Tory Lanez: Rapper Loses Appeal Against Conviction for Shooting Megan Thee Stallion
As she walked away, Lanez fired at her feet. LAPD detective Ryan Stogner testified that Lanez shouted “Dance, bitch, dance” while shooting.2Vulture. Tory Lanez-Megan Thee Stallion Shooting Explainer Minutes later, Harris sent a text message to Megan’s security guard that read: “Help. Tory shot Meg. 911.”3ABC7 Los Angeles. Kelsey Harris Testimony in Tory Lanez Shooting Trial Megan later testified that Lanez called her afterward to apologize, saying he was “just too drunk,” and offered her and Harris up to $1 million each to stay quiet about what happened.4NPR. Tory Lanez Sentenced for Shooting Megan Thee Stallion
The Injuries to Her Feet
Megan was hospitalized for roughly four days after emergency surgery.5BBC News. Megan Thee Stallion Shooting Dr. Lee Haruno, the Cedars-Sinai surgeon who treated her, testified at trial that her left foot had two metallic foreign bodies lodged near the outside of the heel bone, along with a loss of the top layer of skin requiring complex wound closure. Her right foot had metallic fragments in the soft tissue near the Achilles area.6Business Insider. Surgeon Removed Bullet Fragments From Megan Thee Stallion’s Feet
Surgery removed the larger fragments, but Dr. Haruno said “dozens of specks” of tiny bullet fragments remain in both feet because taking them out would cause more harm than leaving them in place. By the time of the December 2022 trial, Megan reported persistent pain, nerve damage in both feet, and a loss of sensation on the left side of her foot. She told jurors she could not walk for a significant period after the shooting and that the backs of her feet are “always sore.”7NBC News. Megan Thee Stallion Testifies at Tory Lanez Shooting Trial
Why She First Told Police It Was Glass
When officers arrived at the scene, Megan told them she had cut her feet on broken glass. That initial statement became the defense’s central argument at trial and fueled years of public skepticism. Megan later explained that she feared police violence during a period of widespread protests over the killing of George Floyd. She told interviewer Gayle King, “I didn’t want them to kill any of us, or shoot any of us. So I just said I stepped on glass.”8NBC News. Megan Thee Stallion’s Initial Police Report Reflects Instinct to Protect Others
On the stand, Megan told jurors she lied to protect everyone in the vehicle, including Lanez, who had a firearm. Detective Stogner testified that when Megan later told the truth about the shooting, she was “sincere,” “visibly distraught,” and crying.9ABC7 Los Angeles. Megan Thee Stallion Trial — Tory Lanez Shooting Case Lanez’s attorney told jurors his job was to show “she’s lying.”
The Criminal Case Against Tory Lanez
Lanez was charged in October 2020 with assault with a semiautomatic firearm, carrying a loaded unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and, in a count added before trial, discharging a firearm with gross negligence.10ABC News. Rapper Tory Lanez Sentenced for Shooting Megan Thee Stallion The trial ran in Los Angeles County Superior Court in December 2022 before Judge David Herriford.
The Key Evidence
One of the prosecution’s strongest pieces of evidence was a recorded jailhouse phone call placed at 9:05 a.m. on July 12, 2020, roughly five hours after the shooting. In the recording, Lanez told Kelsey Harris: “I know she probably never, ever gonna talk to me ever again… But I just want you to know, bruh, I was just so fucking drunk. I ain’t even know what the fuck was going on.” He added, “I would’ve never did that shit if I wasn’t that drunk.”11Rolling Stone. Tory Lanez Phone Call to Megan Thee Stallion’s Friend Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott argued it would take “mental gymnastics” to interpret the call as anything other than an apology for shooting her.12NME. Phone Call Key to Tory Lanez Conviction Surfaces Online
Prosecutors also introduced text messages Lanez sent to Megan on the day of the shooting, in which he wrote, “I genuinely want u to know I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart.”13Complex. Megan Thee Stallion Tory Lanez Conviction Evidence DNA testing confirmed that Kelsey Harris’s DNA was not on the firearm, undercutting a defense theory that Harris might have been the shooter.
Harris herself, granted use immunity, proved a complicated witness. She had given prosecutors a detailed account in September 2022 that largely matched Megan’s version, but on the stand she repeatedly said “I honestly don’t remember,” described the night as “blurry” from alcohol, and claimed many of her prior statements were untrue. She invoked her Fifth Amendment right when asked directly whether Lanez shot Megan.14Variety. Kelsey Harris Testimony in Megan Thee Stallion Shooting Trial Prosecutors were then allowed to play the full 80-minute recording of her September interview for the jury.
Verdict and Sentence
On December 23, 2022, the jury found Lanez guilty on all three counts.15NBC News. Jury Finds Tory Lanez Guilty in Megan Thee Stallion Shooting On August 8, 2023, Judge Herriford sentenced him to ten years in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors had sought 13 years. The judge said it was “difficult to reconcile” the kind person described by character witnesses with the person who fired the gun, adding, “Sometimes good people do bad things. Actions have consequences, and there are no winners in this case.”16PBS NewsHour. Tory Lanez Gets 10 Years in Prison for Shooting Megan Thee Stallion Bott described the crime as “an act of misogyny towards Megan.”4NPR. Tory Lanez Sentenced for Shooting Megan Thee Stallion Lanez received credit for 305 days, including time served and house arrest, and began his prison sentence in September 2023. As a Canadian citizen, he faces potential deportation after completing his sentence.
Public Doubt and Megan’s Response
Before Lanez was even charged, Megan faced a wave of harassment and skepticism online. After initially keeping the shooter’s identity private, she disclosed what had happened on Instagram Live on July 27, 2020, confirming she had been “shot in both of my feet” and required surgery.17Variety. Megan Thee Stallion Shares Photo of Gunshot Wound On August 19, 2020, she posted graphic photos of her injured feet on Instagram and directly addressed her critics: “I got hit at the back of my feet because when I got shot I was WALKING AWAY FACING THE BACK… Why would I lie abt getting shot?”18Essence. Megan Thee Stallion Gunshot Wound
Prominent hip-hop artists amplified the doubt. On his November 2022 collaborative album with 21 Savage, Drake released “Circo Loco,” rapping: “This bitch lie about getting shot but she still a stallion.”19The FADER. Megan Thee Stallion Receives Open Letter of Support 50 Cent also publicly mocked her account, though he later apologized after reviewing the trial evidence. Supporters of Lanez heckled Megan outside the courthouse, shouting, “Why are you lying on that boy?”1BBC News. Tory Lanez: Rapper Loses Appeal Against Conviction for Shooting Megan Thee Stallion A group of prominent Black women, including #MeToo founder Tarana Burke and Planned Parenthood CEO Alexis McGill Johnson, released an open letter in support of Megan after the Drake lyric.
On October 13, 2020, Megan published an op-ed in the New York Times titled “Why I Speak Up for Black Women.” She wrote that she was “the victim of an act of violence by a man” and had been “shot twice as I walked away,” connecting her experience to broader patterns of violence against Black women and to the male-dominated dynamics of hip-hop.20Pitchfork. Megan Thee Stallion Pens New York Times Op-Ed
At sentencing, Megan delivered a victim impact statement saying she had “not experienced a single day of peace” since being shot. She accused Lanez of making “a mockery of my trauma” through social media posts, songs, and music videos, and of trying to “destroy my character and my soul.”21Okayplayer. Megan Thee Stallion’s Full Victim Impact Statement She said he “treated my trauma like a joke when I could’ve been dead.”22Forbes. Tory Lanez Sentenced to 10 Years After the verdict, she called it “a victory for every woman who has ever been shamed, dismissed, and blamed for a violent crime committed against them.”1BBC News. Tory Lanez: Rapper Loses Appeal Against Conviction for Shooting Megan Thee Stallion
Where the Case Stands Now
Lanez has lost every appeal he has filed. In August 2025, the California Second District Court of Appeal denied two habeas corpus petitions raising claims about allegedly missing evidence and new witness affidavits.23Rolling Stone. Tory Lanez Habeas Petitions Denied The same court denied his direct appeal in November 2025, which had alleged ineffective counsel, prosecutorial misconduct, and trial court error.24Los Angeles Times. Tory Lanez Denied Appeal of Megan Thee Stallion Shooting Verdict On February 25, 2026, the California Supreme Court denied his petition for review, effectively exhausting his primary appellate options within the state court system.25Billboard. California Court Rejects Tory Lanez Petition in Megan Thee Stallion Shooting
In a December 2025 interview with NBC News from prison, Lanez continued to maintain his innocence, saying, “I believe not only that I was wrongfully convicted, but the amount of new evidence that has emerged since that trial, I think, has been overwhelming.”26XXL Magazine. California Supreme Court Rejects Tory Lanez Shooting Conviction Appeal He is now held at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo and is eligible for parole in August 2029.