Megan Thee Stallion‘s new single, “HISS,” has everyone talking for all the right and wrong reasons since the track dropped on Jan. 26. The song, viewed as a diss track toward her former “Hot Girl Summer” collaborator Nicki Minaj, features many punchlines and metaphors indirectly aimed at the Young Money Princess.
“These h—s don’t be mad at Megan, these h—s mad at Megan’s Law,” she raps. “I don’t really know what the problem is, but I guarantee y’all don’t want me to start.”
Megan’s Law requires sex offenders to register and their information to be made public, which led fans to believe she was taking a jab at Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty, or her brother. Petty is a registered level-two sex offender in New York and previously served time in jail for attempted rape and first-degree manslaughter. Minaj’s brother, Jelani Maraj, was convicted of predatory sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl in 2017.
The diss track angered Minaj — who responded on “Big Foot” — her Barbz fan base, as well as the family of the young girl the law was created behind.
Richard Kanka, father of Megan Kanka who was murdered in the 1990s by a sexual predator living in her neighborhood who failed to register, told TMZ the song was “disrespectful.” He believes using his daughter’s name in such an offensive manner is detrimental to the trauma he and his family still battle with decades after the passing of 7-year-old Megan.
Richard told the outlet he hadn’t listened to the song yet but he did read the song lyrics. Still, he was equally appalled when his other kids told him about “HISS,” and threatened to seek “legal options to see if Meg’s track went too far.”
ABS spoke with Texas criminal defense attorney Ben Michael of Michael & Associates, who has worked on cases ranging from assault, DWIs and more over the past decade. He agreed with the victim’s father that the song lyrics “were arguably in poor taste,” but he believes Kanka’s case against the Houston rapper is empty.
“While Megan Thee Stallion’s song lyrics were arguably in poor taste, there’s not much of a lawsuit here, in my opinion. For now, we still have the right in America to say anything, whether in good taste or poor,” Michael shared in a statement.
Michael continued, “Her lyrics are insensitive, sure, but a case could be made that she wasn’t even referencing the actual law on the books, given she uses the name Megan as well. It could be her law and not the infamous Megan’s Law. Again, it’s poor taste, but legally she did nothing wrong as far as I can tell.”
In response to rumors about Megan being sued, fans online said things such as “lol there’s no legal case, the right to free speech alone permits the usage. If a first and last name were used that’s a different story,” and “You can’t used somebody trauma to disrespect someone else. Shame on you Tina snow.”
Megan Thee Stallion receives backlash from the Megan Kanka's family, saying they find the line ‘Megan's Law’ to be highly disrespectful and offensive, TMZ reports.
— Juice Pop (@TheJuicePop) January 29, 2024
The family says they are considering looking into legal options to see if Megan's track ‘HISS’ went too far. pic.twitter.com/7aP2vWGquc
Megan’s Law was created in 1996, two years after the kidnapping, rape, and murder of young Megan Kanka in the Hamilton Township area in July 1994. The search for Megan spanned four different counties between New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Her attacker, Jesse Timmendequas, was a neighbor of the Kanka family. For those who recall, outlets reported that Timmendequas lured Megan into his home by showing her his puppy. He allegedly then pulled her into his room, strangled her with a belt, and sexually assaulted her. Megan subsequently died of “acute asphyxia due to mechanical strangulation.”
Timmendequas, who was previously convicted of assaulting two other children, was convicted in May 1997. Neighbors were reportedly unaware Timmendequas lived down the street with a convicted child molester and another sex offender. The court sentenced him to death for Megan’s slaying, a sentence that later was commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Megan’s law was intended to amend the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act of 1994 and required that the public be made aware of registered sex offenders.
