Tory Lanez has been sentenced to 10 years in state prison for the shooting of Megan Thee Stallion in the foot on July 12, 2020. The incident took place after the two rappers argued at a party at Kylie Jenner’s house in the Hollywood Hills residential area of Los Angeles, California.
The Canadian chart-topper has maintained his innocence all along, fiercely fighting for his freedom through various tools at his disposal. He hired a top-notch legal team and brought his family in from Toronto for the trial to lobby by his side.
The 31-year-old also shared information with key bloggers to attempt to win in the court of public opinion, particularly because he thought the district attorney was suppressing evidence.
In addition to the crime against the femcee, a judge determined that Lanez also violated a court rule when he shared information about the case with a blogger before the trial started.
One of the bloggers with whom he reportedly shared the news was DJ Akademiks, who fed his followers (many of whom were Lanez’s fans) false or deceptive information regarding the presence of DNA in the case.
In a since-deleted tweet from Feb. 23, 2022, Akademiks wrote, “BREAKING: it was revealed in court few moments ago that Tory Lanez DNA WAS NOT found on the weapon in the Meg Thee Stallion case.”
Fans flocked to this erroneous tweet, even though the trial had not started, according to Legal Affairs and Trials with Meghan Cuniff.
The “Savage” singer was so outraged by the errancy of Akademiks’ tweet that she posted, “Court ain’t even started so why yall ready to start lying.”
According to Cuniff, the gossip influencer did have an inside track, but did not accurately convey the information he was given. The report showed the DNA from the gun could not include or exclude Lanez as the person who shot the gun, not that his DNA wasn’t on it.
Akademiks was given a prosecution expert’s DNA analysis report on evidence extracted from the weapon used in the shooting.
A judge determined that Lanez leaked the report to him before the trial, which was a violation of a discovery protection order. This order is supposed to prohibit actors in a case from the public distribution of information related to the case.
Lanez previously denied shooting Megan on his tone-deaf album “DAYSTAR.”
In a statement obtained by Los Angeles County Deputy district attorney Kathy Ta and shared by People magazine, the “Shots Fired” rapper said she’s been “tormented and terrorized.” She noted that she cannot bring herself “to being in the same room with Tory.”
She added, “He paid bloggers to disseminate false information, he treated my trauma like a joke when I could’ve been dead. He blamed the system, he blamed the press, and as of late he is using his childhood trauma to justify his actions.”
The 28-year-old added, “Slowly but surely, I’m healing. But I’ll never be the same. His crime warrants the full weight of the law.”
Fans responded to the judge’s ruling that said Lanez broke the law when he gave Akademiks the information.
“It was very obvious he leaked very bias and also inaccurate info in an effort to win in the court of public opinion bc he knew he wasn’t winning in the court of law.”
“DJ Akademiks rarely has this energy for men but loves Internet beef with women.”
“Akademiks doing everything but DJ’ing now we want that apology as loud as the disrespect!”
National attention is not only on the blogger, but also Lanez. Ahead of sentencing, he filed a motion to receive probation and treatment at a drug facility. The press noted that his disposition during the sentencing was dramatically different from other hearings.
According to NBC News, after the decade-long sentence was handed down, the “Say It” star apologized for his role in all that transpired with the Grammy Award winner from Houston, Texas, and claimed full responsibility for the 2020 shooting.
“If I could change it, I would, but I can’t. Everything I did that night, I take full responsibility,” he added. “I truly am just trying to be a better person,” he said.
He will be incarcerated after being found guilty of three felonies: assault with a semi-automatic firearm, carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle, and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. According to a member of Lanez’s legal team, Matthew Barhoma, the team is planning to appeal both the conviction and the sentence and file for bail.
