Megan Thee Stallion has finally broken her silence in the wake of Tory Lanez being found guilty of shooting her in July 2020.
The “Savage” rapper got candid about her traumatic experience in a personal essay she penned for the May issue of Elle magazine. Speaking openly, Megan shared her initial belief that she would be supported after naming Lanez as her attacker in the months after the shooting, only to spend two years being mocked and ridiculed by the public and her industry peers.
“I don’t want to call myself a victim,” she wrote. “As I reflect on the past three years, I view myself as a survivor, because I have truly survived the unimaginable.”
“Not only did I survive being shot by someone I trusted and considered a close friend, but I overcame the public humiliation of having my name and reputation dragged through the mud by that individual for the entire world to see,” she continued.
Megan recalled wanting to handle the shooting incident “privately” but felt forced to come forward after Lanez made things public and attempted to portray her as a liar.
“For years, my attacker l
aughed and joked about my trauma,” she wrote. “For years, my attacker peddled false narratives about what happened on the night of July 12, 2020. For years, my attacker tried to leverage social media to take away my power. Imagine how it feels to be called a liar every day? Especially from a person who was once part of your inner circle.”After coming forward and naming Lanez as her attacker, the constant criticism she was receiving started to take a toll on the “Body” rapper.
“The truth is that I started falling into a depression. I didn’t feel like making music,” Megan wrote.
“I was in such a low place that I didn’t even know what I wanted to rap about. I wondered if people cared anymore. There would be times that I’d literally be backstage or in my hotel, crying my eyes out, and then I’d have to pull Megan Pete together and be Megan Thee Stallion.”
While she didn’t comment when Lanez was found guilty of the shooting in December 2022, she recently wrote about viewing his conviction as a win for her and other women who survived violence.
“It was more than just vindication for me, it was a victory for every woman who has ever been shamed, dismissed, and blamed for a violent crime committed against them,” she wrote.
Now in a “happier” place in the months since Lanez’s verdict, the Grammy-winning rapper ended her essay with a call to action of support for women overcoming physical and emotional trauma.
“We must provide stronger resources for women to recover from these tragedies physically and emotionally, without fear of judgment,” she wrote.
“We must do more than say her name. We must protect all women who have survived the unimaginable.”