Why Tory Lanez’s fate stemmed from Megan Thee Stallion’s testimony

Over eight days of testimonies, the details of a fight between rappers Megan Thee Stallion and Tory Lanez unfolded in a Los Angeles courtroom. In 2020, Lanez reportedly shot Megan in the feet when an argument between the two escalated. At the time, Megan’s star was already on the rise, and the tabloid was preparing the circumstances — the altercation took place in Hollywood Hills after a pool party KylieJenner‘s home – has helped fuel more than two years of combative discussions on social media. Megan’s career has continued to soar in the years since the incident, and when she appeared at trial to testify on behalf of prosecutors last week, supporters stood outside the courthouse with signs that read “I Stand With Megan.” Lanez has pleaded not guilty to the gun and assault charges he faces over the alleged shooting. On Wednesday, he declined to testify as his defense team rested his case.

Delivers his closing remarks on Wednesday, prosecutor Alexander Bott tried to refocus some of the chaos. “If you believe Megan and what she said last Tuesday, this case is closed,” he told the jury, as reported by Law & Crime. “We’re done. If you believe Megan, that’s enough.” Megan’s statement last week largely mirrored the account she gave on social media and in interviews of the alleged shooting. “Tory basically told me that I I don’t suck,” she told jurors, “and I said, ‘Actually, you don’t suck. Here you are in your career.’ Dance, bitch!” and started shooting at her.

The court cases were sometimes scattered and contradictory. Prosecutors said Megan’s former bodyguard Justin Edison would testify, but he never showed up and authorities were unable to locate him in time to close the case. Megan’s former friend and assistant kelsey harris, who was present in the SUV the night of the alleged shooting, testified that she never saw Lanez with a gun, but prosecutors played a recording of a statement she had made to them earlier, saying Lanez was the Protect. Lanez’s lawyer George Mgdesyan said in his opening statement that a romantic falling out between Megan and Harris over Lanez ran parallel to arguments they’d had over the rapper DaBaby and the Brooklyn Nets player ben simmons, but these alleged conflicts did not appear in the testimony.

In news reports, Megan’s own testimony sounded the loudest, especially as it related to the backlash she received after the alleged shooting broke. In his closing statement on Wednesday, Bott quoted from Megan’s testimony: “If I had known that coming out and speaking my truth would result in people agreeing to me being shot, if I had known I would have started losing my confidence.”

“Megan Pete is a liar,” Mgdesyan said in his closing statement on Wednesday, using the rapper’s maiden name, according to Law & Crime. “She lied about everything in this case.” Mgdesyan questioned why Megan hadn’t publicly disclosed that she had sex with Lanez. Citing the rapper’s Grammys and Billboard charting achievements, he said Lanez actually got the worst of the backlash. ‘You know who it was bad for?’ said Mgdesyan, pointing at Lanez. “That man over there.”

Mgdesyan admitted Megan had been shot on the night in question, so he tried to convince the jury of the theory that Harris was the shooter. He repeatedly pointed to Harris’ incantations of her Fifth Amendment rights to argue that she was covering for herself, according to Law & Crime. Bott addressed Harris’ conflicting statements in his remarks Wednesday: “Something happened to Kelsey.”

“Maybe she took one of those bribes,” he reportedly continued — a reference to Megan’s testimony last week that Lanez had offered her and Harris $1 million not to say anything about the alleged shooting. (In her testimony, Harris denied taking any bribes.)

After the closing words, a jury began to deliberate. Lanez faces 22 years in prison if convicted on all charges.