Megan Thee Stallion’s ex-best friend, Kelsey Nicole Harris, offered a limited testimony on the 2020 shooting involving Tory Lanez today in Day 7 of the Megan vs Tory trial. Repeatedly responding with “I can’t remember,” Kelsey shocked the entire courtroom when she said she would “plead the fifth” and made what appears to be an […]
The post Kelsey Nicole ‘Can’t Remember’: Court Breaks With Few Details From Megan’s Ex Bestie appeared first on SOHH.com.
Megan Thee Stallion has been having a tumultuous year; she unveiled her new album Traumazine, she’s in a legal battle with her label 1501 Certified Entertainment, and now she’s on trial against Tory Lanez, who allegedly shot her feet. The latter has definitely taken its toll on Megan, especially when many are accusing her of lying, including Drake and 21 Savage on their new LP Her Loss. It’s a lot for one person to deal with, and it dates all the way back to 2020.
It was reported on July 13, 2020 that Tory Lanez was arrested for possession of a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle following a party in the Hollywood Hills. Megan told cops that she’d cut her foot on glass. She claimed that the two of them were at Kylie Jenner’s party. In the car home, they had an argument that ended with her trying to get out of the car, and Lanez allegedly yelled, “Dance, b*tch,” and shot at her foot multiple times. On July 15, she made a since-deleted Instagram post confirming that her injuries were gunshot wounds.
On July 27, 2020, Megan went on Instagram Live and said she had surgery to remove bullet fragments from her feet. On August 20, she went on Instagram Live again and explained that she said she’d been cut with glass because she “didn’t want to die” at the hands of police. Lanez released a new album on September 25 called Daystar, which included a song with the lyric: “How the f*ck you get shot in your foot, don’t hit no bones or tendons.”
On October 8 of that same year, it was reported that Lanez was charged with shooting her. Then, on November 18, he pled not guilty. The following day, a protective order was issued for Megan against Lanez. He had to give up all firearms, remain at least 100 yards from her, and not engage in any written, personal or electronic contact with her.
On July 25, 2021, Lanez violated the protective order at Rolling Loud. He was then arrested. In April 2022, she told Gayle King that she still had some bullet fragments left over in her foot. On October 26, Lanez was placed on house arrest. He was released on December 5. The following day, he was charged with another felony for discharging a firearm with gross negligence. He pled not guilty.
On December 13, Megan gave an emotional testimony in court. “This situation has only been worse for me and it has only made him more famous,” she said. “Because I was shot, I’ve been turned into some kind of villain, and he’s the victim. This has messed up my whole life… This whole situation in the industry is like a big boy’s club… I’m telling on one of y’all friends, now you’re all about to hate me.”
The trial is ongoing in Los Angeles.
Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
These days, just about everyone has something to say about the trial involving Megan Thee Stallion and Tory Lanez. This week, court proceedings kicked off with a bang as Megan and her former best friend, Kelsey Nicole Harris, took the stand. From the onset of Harris’s testimony, she reportedly pleaded the fifth because she didn’t want to incriminate herself. Prosecutors went on record to state that anything Harris said during her testimony would not be used as information to file charges at a later date. After being granted immunity, Harris gave her side of the story.
In July 2020, Harris, Megan, Lanez, and Lanez’s bodyguard were together when a shooting occurred. According to Harris, Megan and Tory argued at Kylie Jenner’s house and were asked to leave. Harris confirmed that the argument continued when they got into Lanez’s vehicle.
She also told the court that it was “ridiculous” to suggest that she was the person who shot Megan. The Houston rapper has insisted for years, and on the stand, that Lanez shot at her upwards of five times as he told her, “Dance, b*tch.”
Megan previously accused Harris of taking a bribe from Lanez. She testified that Lanez offered her and Harris $1 million each to keep quiet. Harris denied she took any money.
Conversations regarding why Harris pleaded the fifth have stormed the internet. People usually do this when they have some culpability in a crime, and Keri Hilson, like many others, believes that Harris did, indeed, take money from Lanez.
“It’s giving she took the money Tory allegedly offered Megan to keep quiet,” Hilson wrote in Hollywood Unlocked’s comment section.
She continued: “I know she & Megan fell out, but after reading her testimony transcripts, it was obvious (and strange) that she didn’t even wanna defend herself from Defense’s implications. It’s giving ‘guilt of betrayal’ and hush money to me.”
Meanwhile, court reporters have been taking to social media with real-time updates about the trial. While Harris’s testimony supports Megan’s account of Lanez allegedly shooting the rapper, there are several places where their stories don’t align.
Check out a few updates below to get the full scope of Kelsey Harris’s testimony below.
The trial against Tory Lanez for allegedly shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the feet in 2020 is finally underway, and with it, we’ve come to learn more details about that night and the circumstances leading up to the shooting. While some of what has happened since has confirmed a few disputed facts — namely, that Megan Thee Stallion was indeed shot in the back of her feet after initial reports said she was cut by some broken glass — the first three days of testimony have given further insight into the facts of the case.
This is what we knew ahead of the trial from reports and interviews that took place since. On July 13, 2020, it was reported that Tory Lanez was arrested for possession of a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle after a party in the Hollywood Hills. It was then that Meg told police she’d cut her foot on glass.
According to Megan’s account, the pair had apparently been at a party hosted by Kylie Jenner but left when an argument broke out in the car after they left. When she demanded to be let out of the car, she heard Tory yell, “Dance, bitch!” and saw him fire several shots at her feet. Medical records and photos Megan posted to Instagram afterward confirmed that she had surgery to remove bullet fragments from her feet and she told Gayle King that she still had some left over.
Meanwhile, Tory was charged with assault with a semiautomatic firearm and pled not guilty. He was later issued a restraining order, which he violated with his surprise appearance at Rolling Loud Miami in 2021.
Although some reports earlier this year obfuscated the point (whether intentionally or not), the prosecution’s opening statement did confirm that Tory Lanez tested positive for gunshot residue, as did Kelsey Harris, Megan’s friend who was in the car with them when the shooting occurred. While the residue can travel in an enclosed space like a vehicle’s passenger area, the logical inference is that the shots came from inside the car. A few days later, Megan first disclosed that she’d been shot, later stating that Tory was the perpetrator. It should be noted that Lanez’s defense rests on an alternative shooter theory, and will likely use the presence of residue on Harris to offer her up as a suspect.
This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but it turns out that the two rappers were romantically involved before the shooting, although it doesn’t seem that they were exclusively dating at the time. However, Megan hid the relationship from Harris, who she said had a “crush” on Lanez, and its revelation is what led to the argument that prompted the shooting. According to Megan’s testimony, after Lanez tried to pit the two friends against each other, she insulted his music career, which the prosecution has suggested led to Tory’s angrily shooting Megan after she exited the vehicle.
On the third day of testimonies, Harris was called to the stand to give her account of the events on June 13, 2020. Although she asserted her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, she also staunchly denied being the one to shoot Megan Thee Stallion, calling the notion “ridiculous.”
Prosecutor Kathy Ta: “Were there accusations about you having shot Megan?” (Megan Thee Stallion)
Kelsey Harris: “There were.”
Prosecutor: “And how do you feel about them?”
Harris: “I mean, it’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous.”
— Nancy Dillon (@Nancy__Dillon) December 14, 2022
This post will be updated as more facts become available.
Megan Thee Stallion’s ex-best friend, Kelsey Harris, testified on the 2020 shooting involving Tory Lanez. During her testimony, she “plead the fifth” and has made, what appears, a deal with the DA. Kelsey Lawyered Up, Too! Megan Thee Stallion’s former best friend, Kelsey Harris, stepped into the Los Angeles Superior Court to testify at the […]
The post Day 7: Megan The Stallion’s Ex-Bestie Pleads Fifth + Surprises Tory Lanez’ Defense With DA Deal appeared first on SOHH.com.
We’re at the point in the year where it’s not quite done yet, but done enough to start looking back on everything that happened. That’s especially true of music, as year-end list season is in full swing (Uproxx recently ran our top albums and songs of the year lists, for example). 2022 was busy, but in a new “Top 5” video, host Jackie Powell condenses the past few months into five key moments.
She begins with one of the year’s biggest album releases: Beyoncé’s Renaissance. The comeback project was Queen Bey’s first album since 2016’s iconic Lemonade and the follow-up has earned similar acclaim. Both the album and lead single “Break My Soul” spent some time at No. 1 on their respective Billboard charts, and zooming out, the project added a new dimension to Beyoncé’s already complex and beautiful legacy.
One of 2022’s other most notable figures was Kate Bush, who had an unexpectedly prosperous year thanks to Stranger Things making her 1985 single “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” one of the year’s biggest songs. It topped Billboard‘s global chart, artists like Coldplay covered it, and it got Bush some hefty checks. Bush herself couldn’t really believe the tune’s resurgence, but stranger things have happened.
As for what else the “Top 5” video covers, you’ll have to watch above to find out.
This past April, Megan Thee Stallion sat down for an interview with Gayle King about the alleged Tory Lanez shooting. King asked Megan if she was in a relationship with Tory at the time, as Lanez had claimed, and she responded simply, “I didn’t have a sexual relationship with Tory.”
Now, though, Lanez’s assault trial has started, which has brought to light the fact that Meg’s denial wasn’t true. On December 12, in an opening statement, prosecutor Alexander Bott said the two were in fact romantically involved. When Megan took the stand yesterday (December 13), she confirmed she in fact did have an intimate but non-exclusive relationship with Lanez (as NPR reports). Meg said she hid the relationship from Kelsey Harris, who was with them at the time of the alleged shooting, since Harris had a “crush on” Lanez.
Meg was asked she hadn’t previously revealed the nature of her and Lanez’s relationship and she said she was embarrassed “because it’s disgusting at this point.” She continued, “How could I share my body with someone who could do this to me?”
The fight that apparently led to Meg being shot supposedly began when Lanez tried to pit Meg and Harris against each other, by hinting at the relationship and calling them “b*tches and hoes.”
Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
Yesterday (December 13) was emotional for Megan Thee Stallion, as she took the stand in Los Angeles Superior Court and testified as part of the Tory Lanez assault trial, stemming from when he allegedly shot her in the foot back in 2020. Megan has discussed that night previously, but in court, she got more publicly vulnerable about it than ever before.
With her “voice breaking” (as NPR reports), Meg said of how the incident has impacted her mental health, “I can’t even be happy. I can’t hold conversations with people for a long time. I don’t feel like I want to be on this earth. I wish he would have just shot and killed me, if I knew I would have to go through this torture.”
As for how she felt in the immediate aftermath of being shot, she revealed, “I felt shocked. I felt hurt. I wasn’t sure if this was really happening. I looked at my feet, I saw the blood, and I fell to the ground.”
Of the more long-term effects the situation had, Meg lamented, “This situation has only been worse for me and it has only made him more famous. Because I was shot, I’ve been turned into some kind of villain, and he’s the victim. This has messed up my whole life… This whole situation in the industry is like a big boy’s club… I’m telling on one of y’all friends, now you’re all about to hate me.”
Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
On the second day of Tory Lanez’s trial, Megan thee Stallion took the stand to detail her experience during and after the alleged shooting.
While getting emotional, the rapper opened up about the difficult moments she’s dealt with while being in the public eye.
Per People, the “WAP” star stated Tuesday, “I’m having a really difficult time sitting up here telling my story and having to sit across [from] people who have made up lies about me and having to [sit] across from Tory.”
“I try to be strong. I don’t like to look weak,” she vulnerably added, “I don’t want to give them the power that they’ve taken from me for the last three years.”
Opening up about the isolation she’s experienced, Megan shared on the stand, “I can’t even be happy… I don’t want to talk to friends or family.”
“I don’t want to live,” the Texas rapper also revealed. “I wish he had just shot and killed me if I had to go through this torture.”
Asked to recount when she was allegedly shot, Megan said that she heard a gunshot. “I don’t know how many, but feels like it went on forever,” she noted.
Claiming that she saw Lanez shoot at her, she continued, “He said, ‘Dance bitch ,’ and I turned to him and saw him shoot.”
On the support that Lanez has been given, the Traumazine rapper said, “Every man in a position of power in the music industry has taken his side.” She also discussed how often people accuse her of lying.
At one point during Megan’s testimony, she answered yes after being asked if she was more famous than Lanez at the time of the incident. According to People, the “Say It” singer appeared shocked, later mouthing “Okay.”
Megan also revealed that she and Kelsey are no longer friends. She stated on the stand that her friendship with Kelsey ended after she met up with Lanez following the incident.
The 27-year-old made it clear, though, that Lanez was the person she believed shot her, not her ex-friend.
The testimony comes after opening statements began on Monday (Dec. 13). Earlier on Tuesday, Megan confirmed that Lanez offered to bribe her with $1 million following the alleged shooting.
Check back in with HNHH as we continue to cover the ongoing trial.
[Via]
