Megan Thee Stallion may have to gear up for more legal battles.
In the years since she publicly accused Tory Lanez of physical assault, Megan has been subjected to a wide range of criticism and nasty victim-blaming. Some have accused the Houston rapper of lying about the shooting, while others say she was the aggressor in the incident and, therefore, responsible for her own injuries. This issue has been addressed in numerous articles, which suggested that bloggers were partly to blame for the misogynistic and abusive attacks on Megan.
“It’s been very clear, as I’ve seen entertainment and gossip spaces commenting on the case, that she has been set up as someone who is out for herself, lying, and problematic in all these ways,” Catherine Knight Steele, a communications professor at the University of Maryland, told NBC News. “This points to the way that mis- and disinformation, and misogynoir, is trafficked because of its profitability, even in the Black community. It’s profitable for these sites to traffic in the most vile stereotypes about Black women.”
As Lanez’s assault trial comes to a close, Megan’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, said they are “exploring all legal options” to combat misinformation about the shooting case. He suggested they may take some kind of action against bloggers who intentionally shared misinformation about the trial in order to paint Megan as the wrongdoer.
NBC News pointed to content shared by Milagro Gramz, a blogger who has covered the Lanez’s assault case. Back in May, Gramz posted an LAPD report in which a doctor “confirmed” that Megan’s foot injuries were “due to stepping on glass.” Gramz’s post circulated on social media, fueling conspiracy theories that Megan had lied about being shot in the foot. However, the report was written before the doctor had discovered bullet fragments in Megan’s feet.
Gramz insisted she was not trying to “tear anyone down,” and admitted her content wasn’t always based in facts.
“On my end, everything is not going to be something that was intended to be a factual statement,” Gramz told NBC News. “It might have a comedic effect.”
Megan’s other lawyer, Jordan Siev, said they have reported about a half a dozen of Gramz’s tweets on Megan’s behalf. The platform confirmed the blogger had violated its policies, and locked her account for 11 hours.
Hollywood Unlocked founder Jason Lee has also been accused of providing bias coverage of the assault case, as he implied that Megan’s behavior is what led to the assault.
“Megan was drunk as hell and super aggressive, and she’s a big girl,” Lee said on his show earlier this year. “I’m telling you right now, she has a problem,” he said. “I’m telling you right now whatever happened with her and Tory, there’s more to the story. I’ve seen her in action. I’ve seen her be aggressive.”
Lee told NBC News that his platform is “unbiased,” and it was “unfair” to assume either parties’ guily.
“I’ve always struggled with the way she’s been treated,” he said. “While I don’t believe it’s fair to say Tory’s automatically guilty, I also don’t believe it’s fair to call a woman who says she was shot by a man a ‘liar.’”
Lanez assault trial is expecting to conclude within the upcoming days, as jury deliberations will resume Friday morning. The rapper has pleaded not guilty to three charges: assault with a semiautomatic handgun; carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle; and discharging a firearm with gross negligence. He will face more than 20 years in prison if convicted of the charges.