Tory Lanez’s trial for allegedly shooting Megan Thee Stallion begins

in August 2020, Megan Thee Stallion addressed a story that had been circulating for the past month. Tabloids and gossip sites are piling up details of an alleged shooting that took place after a party in KylieJenneris at home in Los Angeles. the rapper Tory Lanez was arrested for concealed weapons, and Page Six carried the most explosive account: Lanez shot Megan in the foot amid an altercation that was going on over an SUV. Taking to Instagram, Megan claimed the content was true, and in the coming months, prosecutors filed assault and gun violence charges against Lanez.

The legal affair dragged on for the next two years after Lanez pleaded not guilty to all charges, but Megan’s rise to Grammy awards and Billboard hits compounded the fallout, and the case continued to garner regular waves of public attention. Each rapper released music related to it, while social media sites and YouTube channels discussed the available evidence. Megan offered more details in an interview with gayle king, and wrote an essay for That New York Times She focuses on how her experience fits into the broader context of violence against black women.

On Monday morning, the alleged shooting arrived before a jury in Los Angeles. As Rolling Stone reported, prosecutors began their case by stating in opening statements that kelsey harris, A former best friend and assistant of Megan’s who was at the scene of the alleged shooting would provide testimony supporting Megan’s account. “Kelsey will tell you that she just saw her close friend shot by the defendant,” Assistant District Attorney Alexander Bott Reportedly told jury. Bott went on to say that Megan will testify that Lanez shouted, “Dance, bitch!” before shooting at her.

Lanez’s legal battles intensified in September after the R&B singer August Alsina claimed on Instagram the rapper assaulted him in Chicago. No charges were filed on the allegation, but prosecutors argued in a pretrial hearing that Lanez violated his bail conditions, TMZ reported, and judges David Herriford placed him under house arrest before releasing him awaiting trial last week.

In his opening statement on Monday, Lanez’ attorney George Mgdesyan said Megan was the only person at the scene who heard Lanez say “dance, bitch.” Rolling Stone. The attorney reportedly said that on the night of the alleged shooting, Megan was upset by the time Lanez spent with Jenner and that corey gamble, Jenner’s mother’s boyfriend crisShe would testify that she saw a fight starting at Jenner’s house. Mgdesyan continued his testimony, claiming that Harris was the one who fired the gun after Lanez revealed in the car that he had a sexual relationship with Megan in addition to his with Harris. (According to Mgdesyan, Harris claimed that this meant Megan had cheated on her in this way for the third time after parallel romantic conflicts erupted over the rapper DaBaby and the NBA player Ben Simmons.)

While Lanez never built the mainstream profile that Megan has in recent years, he has built a steady following and maintained it to some extent after the alleged shootings. In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, his Quarantine Radio series on Instagram Live made him a breakout star of the social media-centric entertainment ecosystem that arose in the moment. Lanez no longer has a major label deal — he and Interscope Records separate ways in February 2020 — and in his post claiming Lanez beat him up, Alsina wrote, “Dude has no real friends and is on a crash-out mission.” But he continues to independently release music and perform The Breakfast Club in September to discuss a new album. In his public comments About the alleged shooting, Lanez has described Megan as a jealous ex who framed him. (Megan told Gayle King that she and Lanez did not have a sexual relationship.) In February, amid a spate of reports and legal developments in the case, Megan posted a screenshot of a death threat she received on social media.

“I want him to go to jail. i want him to go under prison,” Megan said Rolling Stone in June. “I feel like you’ve tried enough to break me already. you already shot me So why are you dragging it out like this? What else? Did you hate me so much the whole time and I didn’t see it?”

If convicted on all charges, Lanez faces up to 22 years and eight months in prison. The process should take between five and seven days.