By Andrew Dalton | Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Megan Thee Stallion asked a court on Tuesday to issue a restraining order against Tory Lanez, who she says is harassing her from prison through surrogates as he serves a 10-year sentence for shooting her in the feet.
The petition filed by the hip-hop star in Los Angeles Superior Court asks the judge to prevent the Canadian rapper Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, from using third parties to continue the same online harassment of Megan, whose legal name is Megan Pete, that he engaged in and encouraged before his imprisonment.
“Even now, while behind bars, Mr. Peterson shows no signs of stopping,” the petition says. “Despite being sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting Ms. Pete, Mr. Peterson continues to to subject her to repeated trauma and revictimization.”
The petition says prison call logs from Lanez at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi show that he is coordinating attacks on Megan’s credibility.
An email seeking comment from Lanez’s lawyers was not immediately returned. A court hearing on the order is scheduled for Jan. 9.
The filing says bloggers acting on Lanez behalf continue to cast doubt on her allegations, making false claims including that the gun and bullet fragments in the case are missing.
The petition says the protective order issued to prevent the previous harassment is no longer in effect, which it calls a loophole and flaw in the criminal justice system.
In December 2022, Lanez was convicted of three felonies: assault with a semiautomatic firearm; having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
A judge rejected a motion for a new trial from Lanez’s lawyers, who are appealing his conviction.
In August of last year, he received the 10-year sentence, bringing what seemed to be a conclusion to a three-year legal and cultural saga that saw two careers, and lives, thrown into turmoil.
The petition says that one blogger in particular, Elizabeth Milagro Cooper, whom Megan is suing in a separate lawsuit, is acting as Lanez “puppet and mouthpiece.” She alleges Cooper is spreading falsehoods on social media and YouTube, saying in one video posted to X, “Can you even prove she was shot?” and calling her a “professional victim” in another post.
Cooper’s attorney Michael Pancier declined comment on the California petition, and said in an email that their forthcoming response to the separate federal lawsuit against her will speak for itself.
A previous motion to dismiss Megan’s lawsuit said it makes “dubious legal claims” and “irrelevant and impertinent allegations.”
Megan testified during the trial that in July 2020, after they left a party at Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood Hills home, Lanez fired the gun at the back of her feet and shouted for her to dance as she walked away from an SUV in which they had been riding. She revealed who had fired the gun only months later.
The case created a firestorm in the hip-hop community, churning up issues including the reluctance of Black victims to speak to police, gender politics in hip-hop, online toxicity, protecting Black women and the ramifications of misogynoir, a particular brand of misogyny Black women experience.
Megan Thee Stallion, now 29, was already a major rising star at the time of the shooting, and her music’s popularity has soared since. She won a Grammy for best new artist in 2021, and she had No. 1 singles with “Savage,” featuring Beyoncé, and as a guest on Cardi B’s “WAP.”
Lanez, 32, began releasing mixtapes in 2009 and saw a steady rise in popularity, moving on to major label albums. His last two reached the top 10 on Billboard’s charts.
