Nneka Onuorah has put her Emmy-winning talent behind a new documentary aimed at introducing the world to Megan Pete, the Grammy-winning rapper known as Megan Thee Stallion.
Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words provides unparalleled access to the woman behind the iconic persona. The documentary chronicles the Houston native’s path to stardom, showcasing her resilience as she navigates fame, loss, pressure, and success. It reveals Megan’s most vulnerable moments, offering fans an intimate look at the real Megan Pete.
Filmed over a span of three years, Onuorah stayed by Megan’s side as she toured, spent time with family, friends, and fans, and faced the difficult aftermath of her 2020 shooting involving the now-incarcerated artist Tory Lanez.
Megan unveiled bold revelations, peeling back the layers of her life and personality in ways that Onuorah skillfully captured on screen with an aim to share a story that women and girls could truly relate to.
“Megan Pete versus Megan Thee Stallion represents a position,” Onuorah tells BLACK ENTERPRISE. “We have the ultimate feminist empowerment artist who’s strong, who represents women, and being strong for themselves. Megan Pete herself is a young woman just trying to figure it out. That goes through vulnerabilities. That is the relatable human being inside of Megan Thee Stallion.”
Onuorah continued. “And I felt like that’s the untold side of Megan. And I feel like it’s also a side a lot of women could relate to and girls could relate to experiencing grief, depression, going through traumatic events, and really just trying to navigate life figuring it out.”
The documentary follows Megan’s high-profile trial, which culminated in Tory Lanez being found guilty of shooting her in July 2020. In August 2023, Lanez was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his actions.
There had been chatter surrounding Megan’s rumored relationship with Lanez at the time of the shooting, which she denied having been intimate with the rapper when interviewed by Gayle King in 2022. However, in the documentary, Megan admits to Onuorah that she lied during the interview and had in fact hooked up with Lanez “like once, maybe twice on a drunk night.”
When asked about the strong responses Megan’s reveal was getting online, Onuorah celebrated the support the “Savage” rapper was getting for her transparency and vulnerability.
“People have a lot of false narratives when they can’t see it, but you can’t deny the footage and what happened in real-time,” Onuorah said. “So I was excited about that. And I’m very excited for what I’m seeing online.”
“I’ve been seeing a lot of people be inspired about the empathy it’s
creating, about how Meg is even more relatable because she’s vulnerable and they see themselves in her,” she added. “And so it’s been a lot of positive reactions and it was already a win because Megan won in the end.”It’s not the first time Onuorah has captured the life of a Grammy-winning artist in a captivating documentary. Her direction on Lizzo’s Prime Video reality series Watch Out for the Big Grrrls won the 2022 Emmy Award for Outstanding Competition Program and Onuorah won for Outstanding Directing For A Reality Program.
Her award-winning work on the documentary garnered a personal request from Roc Nation for Onuorah to direct Megan’s documentary. The Queens native expressed her gratitude in being tapped to lead the project after a humble start to her film career.
“It feels good to be respected in my craft, in my field,” she shared.” I’ve been doing this. I’m a self-starter. I didn’t go to film school. I’m self-taught. So it feels beautiful to know that walking in my purpose paid off.”
Onuorah continued. “The fact that I spend 99.9% of my time on my craft and building that it’s taken me this far. I can’t wait to see where else it’s about to take me.”
Press play above for the full interview and catch Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words on Amazon Prime.