Canadian rapper Tory Lanez found out on Monday that he is facing an additional charge in connection to the 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion.
Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, is accused of discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
The 30-year-old rapper was charged in October 2020 of assault with a firearm and carrying a loaded and unregistered firearm. He pleaded not guilty in November 2020.
If convicted on all counts, Lanez could be sentenced to up to 22 years and eight months in prison. The Ontario native, who lives in Florida, could also be deported.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Lanez paraphrased Bible scripture Isaiah 54:17 in a tweet. “No weapon formed against me shall prosper …. EVER.”
Lanez is about to stand trial in Los Angeles on allegations that he fired a 9mm semiautomatic handgun at Megan Thee Stallion’s feet during an argument. She was treated at Cedars-Sinai Hospital for bullet fragments in both feet.
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In April, Megan told CBS Mornings she got into an argument with Lanez in the early morning hours of July 12, 2020 after they left a house party in the Hollywood Hills in a Cadillac Escalade with Megan’s friend Kelsey Harris and Lanez’s bodyguard.
“I get out the car and it's like, everything happens so fast. And all I hear is this man screaming. He said ‘Dance b**ch!’ and he start shooting and I'm just like, 'Oh my god.' He shot a couple of times.”
Megan said she feared for her life. “I didn't even want to move. I didn't want to move too quick, ‘cause I'm like, ‘Oh my god, if I take the wrong step, I don't know if he could shoot something that's super important, I don't know if he could shoot me and kill me,’” she said.
“I was really scared ‘cause I had never been shot at before.
Officers who arrived on scene in response to a 911 call noticed Megan was bleeding but said she blamed broken glass.
Lanez was arrested at the scene and charged with carrying a concealed weapon. Before posting $35,000 U.S. bail, he allegedly called Harris to apologize for shooting at Megan and blamed his actions on being drunk.
(On Monday, Lanez’s lawyer George Mgdesyan was unsuccessful in convincing Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Herriford to rule that the prosecution can’t mention the phone call in its opening statements.)
In a 2020 interview with GQ, Megan alleged Lanez offered her and Harris money to stay quiet about what happened. “I'm thinking, ‘I can't believe you even think I want to take some money. Like, you just shot me,’” she said.
A few days after the incident, Megan posted a statement on social media in which she admitted she “suffered gunshot wounds, as a result of a crime that was committed against me and done with the intention to physically harm me.”
Megan did not name Lanez as the alleged shooter until Aug. 20, when she said during an Instagram Live: “Yes … Tory shot me. You shot me and you got your publicist and your people going to these blogs lying and s**t.”
She explained that she didn’t initially tell police about the shooting because she feared how officers would react to an armed Black man in the vehicle. “I tried to save [Lanez]. Even though he tried to shoot me, I tried to spare him,” said Megan. “He not in jail because I didn’t tell the [police] what happened as soon as it happened and I should have. I’m smart. I didn’t have to spare [Lanez] … but I did. But I’m done.”
Lanez has found himself in hot water several times while awaiting trial.
In August 2021, Lanez's bail was raised by $60,000 U.S. when he was found guilty of violating a court order by attending a music festival where Megan Thee Stallion performed.
This past April, he was taken into custody in a Los Angeles courtroom after a judge ruled that he violated court orders preventing him from discussing any discovery in the case with outside parties. Lanez’s bail was increased from $250,000 to $350,000 U.S.
Then, in October, Lanez was placed under house arrest and ordered to wear an ankle monitor until his trial following an altercation with singer August Alsina in Chicago. (The house arrest and monitoring were terminated at Monday’s hearing.)
Jury selection is underway and opening statements are scheduled for Dec. 12. The trial is expected to last about 10 days.
In June, Megan – who will testify at the trial – told Rolling Stone what she hopes will happen to Lanez if he is convicted.
“I want him to go to jail,” she said. “I want him to go under the jail.
“I never put my hands on this man. I never did anything to him. There was an argument. People argue every day. Friends argue every day.”
Lanez has released seven studio albums since 2016, including September's Sorry 4 What, and has collected three consecutive JUNO Awards for Rap Recording of the Year. He also earned the JUNO for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year for a collaboration with Jessie Reyez and Tainy.
The rapper was briefly detained by Miami Beach Police in 2018 during a brawl outside a nightclub but was released at the scene without charges. In 2017, Lanez was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, possession of marijuana and driving without a license after being pulled over by police in Miramar, Florida. The weapon charge was later dropped.