Rapper Tory Lanez sensationally broke his silence after being sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to shooting his then-girlfriend Megan Thee Stallion in 2020.
In a post on Instagram, 31-year-old Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, said he maintains his innocence by adding, “I refuse to apologize for something I didn’t do.”
“I have never been intimidated by a hard time. I will never allow myself to be eliminated by a prison sentence. No matter how they try to twist my words, I have always maintained my innocence and I always will,” Lanez also said.
“This week in court, I took responsibility for all the verbal and intimate moments I shared with the parties involved…that was it,” he continued.
“I have not apologized in any way for the charges I have been wrongly convicted of. I take the position that I refuse to apologize for something I didn’t do,” the Canadian rapper continued.
In his statement, 31-year-old Tory Lanez maintained his innocence and thanked his supporters
Rapper Torey Lanez refused to apologize for shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot in the summer of 2020
Lanez said he “has faced adversity all my life” and that his prison sentence “will be nothing but another moment where my back is against the wall and I refuse to stop fighting until I emerge victorious from the battle come… Hard times are not the last thing tough people do,” Lanez wrote online.
He also thanks his family and fans for their “ongoing support.”
A judge sentenced Lanez to 10 years in prison on Wednesday for shooting and wounding Megan Thee Stallion in the foot after a party at Kylie Jenner’s home in 2020.
Los Angeles Supreme Court Justice David Herriford handed down the sentence to Lanez, who was convicted in December of three felonies: assault with a semi-automatic firearm; having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and firing a firearm with gross negligence.
From the initial incident in the Hollywood Hills in July 2020 to the two-day marathon sentencing hearing, the case created a storm in the hip-hop community, raising issues including black victims’ unwillingness to talk to police, gender politics in hip hop, online toxcity, protection of black women and the consequences of misogynoir, a particular brand of misogyny experience.
Herriford said it was “difficult to reconcile” with the portrait Lanez’s friends and family painted at the hearing of a kind, charitable person and good father of a 6-year-old son with the person who fired the gun at Megan.
“Sometimes good people do bad things,” Herriford said. “Actions have consequences, and in this case there are no winners.”
Megan testified at trial that Lanez fired the gun at the back of her feet and yelled at her to dance as she walked away from an SUV they had been driving in, after leaving a pool party at Kylie Jenner’s house.
She had to have surgery to remove bullet fragments. It wasn’t until months later that she revealed who fired the gun.
“Since I was savagely shot by the defendant, I have not known a single day of peace,” Megan said in a statement read Monday by a prosecutor. “Slowly but surely I’m healing and coming back, but I’ll never be the same again.”
A judge sentenced Lanez to ten years in prison on Wednesday for shooting and wounding Megan Thee Stallion in the foot after a party at Kylie Jenner’s home in 2020
Megan testified at trial that Lanez fired the gun at the backs of her feet and yelled at her to dance as she ran away from an SUV they had been driving.
Lanez asked for mercy from Herriford just before the judge handed down his sentence, asking for probation or a minimum jail term.
“If I could reverse and change the chain of events that night,” Lanez continued. “The victim was my friend. The victim is someone I still care for to this day.”
He added, “Everything I did wrong that night, I take full responsibility for.”
Lanez seemed stunned as the sentence was read, but made no audible response. His family and fans in the courtroom also remained silent after the verdict.
The rapper was credited with about 10 months for time served, most of which has been spent in prison since his December sentencing.
“We are extremely disappointed,” Jose Baez, Lanez’s lead attorney, said outside the courthouse. “I’ve seen vehicular manslaughter and other cases where death resulted, and the defendant still gets less than 10 years.”
Baez called the line “basically just another example of someone being punished for their celebrity status and someone being used to set an example.” And he is not an example. He’s human.’
Lanez’s lawyers plan to appeal the verdict and try to get him out on bail.
Megan, whose legal name is Megan Pete, has been repeatedly praised by prosecutors for her courage to testify at the trial and endure her online hate campaign.
“I hope Miss Pete’s courage brings hope to those who feel helpless,” Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón of Megan said at a post-conviction news conference.
The public prosecutor had demanded 13 years in prison. Legally, Lanez was eligible for a maximum of 22.
During Monday’s session, Lanez’s father, Sonstar Peterson, swallowed tears as he shared how the rapper’s mother died when he was 11, just days after she first showed symptoms of the rare blood disorder that led to her death. would lead.
“I don’t think anyone will ever get over that,” he said of their youngest child, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson. “But his music became his outlet.”
Lanez began releasing mixtapes in 2009 and saw a steady rise in popularity, continuing with major label albums. His last two reached the top 10 on the Billboard charts.