Judge: Tory Lanez's tweets violated protective order in Megan Thee Stallion assault case

Hyeyoon Alyssa Choi
·2 min read
Tory Lanez performs at HOT 97 Summer Jam 2019 in East Rutherford, N.J. on June 2, 2019, left, and Megan Thee Stallion attends the 5th annual Diamond Ball benefit gala in New York on Sept. 12, 2019. Megan Thee Stallion penned an op-ed on the failure to protect Black women on the morning that rapper Lanez had his first court hearing for felony charges that he shot her. She writes in the New York Times Tuesday that she was shocked to become a victim of violence from a man on July 12. She said she at first kept quiet about being shot because she feared backlash, and that fear has been justified. Lanez, appearing by phone at his court hearing, did not enter a plea to two felony counts, and his lawyer declined comment. (Photos by Scott Roth, left, Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
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Canadian rapper Tory Lanez won and lost in a Los Angeles courtroom Tuesday.

Lanez, who is accused of shooting fellow rapper Megan Thee Stallion in the foot in July 2020 outside a Hollywood Hills mansion, saw his bail in the felony assault case increased to only $350,000 during a pretrial hearing. The district attorney had argued for Lanez’s bail to be revoked or increased to $5 million.

However, Los Angeles County Judge David Herriford also determined that Lanez’s social media posts seemed to be directed at Stallion, a violation of the court's pretrial protective orders barring him from contacting Stallion or commenting on the case.

Lanez was taken into custody at the hearing. As a condition of his release after posting bail, Herriford said Lanez could not mention Stallion on social media.

In February, Stallion — born Megan Pete — posted and subsequently deleted a screenshot of a string of messages from Lanez, in which he apologized for what he’d allegedly done to her when he was “too drunk" and expressed that “I feel horrible.”

This is not the first time Lanez has violated the court's order. Last year, a judge increased Lanez’s bail to $250,000 from $190,000 after he defied a 100-yard restraining order by taking the stage immediately after Stallion's set at the Rolling Loud hip-hop music festival.

The facts of the case have been disputed in court and on social media, including whether Lanez’s DNA was on the apprehended handgun.

At Tuesday's hearing, defense attorney Shawn Holley stated that the DNA reports on the weapon yielded an inconclusive finding due to the presence of four DNA contributors.

Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, was charged with assault in the case in October 2020 and faces a maximum sentence of 22 years in prison if convicted. He pleaded not guilty to one count of firearm assault and one count of carrying a concealed firearm.

The trial is set for Sept. 14.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.