Exclusive: Read Megan Thee Stallion's and Tory Lanez's full statements from Lanez's sentencing
'This is a statement for all survivors that their lives matter,' Megan said in written comments read aloud in court. Lanez spoke of their bond and called her a friend.
Megan Thee Stallion submitted a written statement that Deputy District Attorney Kathy Ta read aloud during Tory Lanez’s sentencing hearing on Aug. 7.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Herriford sentenced Lanez to 10 years in prison on Aug. 8 for shooting Megan in the feet and injuring her on July 12, 2020. The judge said he’ll be credited for 305 days already served in jail and on house arrest, with a 15% credit.
Prosecutors said Lanez fired five rounds at Megan from a semiautomatic gun as she walked away from his Escalade barefoot and in a bikini, and fragments from two bullets hit Megan’s feet. She underwent surgery to remove them.
A jury convicted Lanez on Dec. 23, 2022, of first-degree assault with a firearm, negligent discharge of a firearm and possession of a concealed and unregistered firearm inside a vehicle.
Megan said in her statement last week that she “struggled” with whether to attend Lanez’s sentencing in person.
“I don’t want my absence to be interpreted as anything other than the preservation of my mental well-being. after everything that occurred, I simply can’t bring myself to be back in the same room with Tory once again. …
He treated my trauma like a joke when I could have died that day. Mercy can only be granted to those who accept responsibility for their actions. But not once has the defendant taken accountability. At first, he tried to deny the shooting ever happened. Then he attempted to place the blame on my former best friend. In his tantrum of lies, he’s blamed the system. Blamed the press. And as of late, he’s using his childhood trauma to shield himself and avoid culpability. For once, the defendant must be forced to face the full consequences of his heinous actions and face justice.”
She concluded: “This is a statement for all survivors that their lives matter and there is zero tolerance for the torture that accompanies violence. His crime warrants the full weight of the law.”
The next day, Lanez stood and spoke to Judge Herriford for several minutes before the judge imposed the 10-year sentence. Lanez’s lawyers had been asking Herriford to sentence him to probation, and Lanez asked the judge to give him a chance.
Lanez maintained his innocence but apologized for saying “immature” things before the shooting. He said he believes “there’s been this common misconception about me being this monster and not having any sort of remorse or any sort of — I don’t even know what the word is — but not having some sort of sympathy in the situation that I’ve been in. And it’s just not true.”
Lanez said the July 12, 2020, shooting “was a night that everybody was drunk.”
“Some things happened. I said some very immature things that I shouldn’t have said. I revealed some secrets that I shouldn’t have revealed to both the people in the car. And I was wrong. If I could turn back the series of events that night and change them, as unfortunate as they were, I would, but I can’t, and I apologize. I’m sorry that I did that. Sorry that I had those moments. And, again, if I could, I would — I would change them. But I can’t. But to think that I’m this callous individual that is some sort of victimizer or some sort of womanizer is just not true, because the victim was my friend. The victim was somebody that I still care for dearly to this day regardless of what she may think about me after the media has made this spectacle that it’s been.
Regardless of the fact, the victim’s my friend. She’s somebody that I sat there — and not to even touch on the subject — but we both lost our mothers. And we would sit there and drink and drink till it felt numb. That was what me and the victim had. We were friends that connected on various levels of deeper subjects than what has met the eye.”
Some of Megan’s and Lanez’s comments already have been reported. But reporters in the courtroom were relegated to handwritten notes only, and the statements came after many of us had already been taking notes for several hours.
That’s where our friend the court reporter comes in. She’s the true hero in the courtroom, with her years of experience and 22-key stenotype machine. She provided the 17 pages of Megan’s and Lanez’s statement to me in exchange for $85.
She’ll have the full transcript of the two-day sentencing hearing ready to purchase early next week. She estimated the cost at $1,000, which I was able to fundraise online this morning. I’ll share the transcript as soon as I get it.
Megan’s statement:
“Dear Honorable Judge Herriford,
I struggled with being present today. I don’t want my absence to be interpreted as anything other than the preservation of my mental well-being. after everything that occurred, I simply can’t bring myself to be back in the same room with Tory once again.
I want you to know that since I was viciously shot by the defendant a little over three years ago, I have not experienced a single day of peace.
I have been tormented and terrorized in every degree by the defendant.
He not only shot me, he made a mockery of my trauma. He tried to position himself as a victim and set out to destroy my character and my soul.
He lied to anyone that would listen and paid bloggers to disseminate false information about the case on social media.
He released music videos and songs to damage my character and continue his crusade.
He treated my trauma like a joke when I could have died that day.
Mercy can only be granted to those who accept responsibility for their actions. But not once has the defendant taken accountability.
At first, he tried to deny the shooting ever happened. Then he attempted to place the blame on my former best friend. In his tantrum of lies, he’s blamed the system. Blamed the press. And as of late, he’s using his childhood trauma to shield himself and avoid culpability.
For once, the defendant must be forced to face the full consequences of his heinous actions and face justice.
If the defendant would have spent a quarter of the past few years showing contrition for his crimes, perhaps I could have healed sooner. Instead, I spiraled into a dark and angry place where I thought my life was worthless and I felt loneliness and shame. Slowly but surely, I’m healing and coming back. But I will never be the same.
However, every day I think of the others across the world who are victims of violence and have survived. It is truly the most powerless feeling, especially when you question whether the justice system can truly protect you.
Fortunately, the District Attorney’s Office fought for me. I’m incredibly grateful to them and the jury for their attention to the evidence and siding with the truth. But if it can happen to me, imagine those who lack the resources and support system to help them.
Today I beg this court to send a message to every victim of violence and fully hold the defendant accountable for his criminal conduct.
This is a statement for all survivors that their lives matter and there is zero tolerance for the torture that accompanies violence. His crime warrants the full weight of the law.
Thank you, Your Honor.”
Lanez’s statement:
“First, before I say anything about myself, I just want to pay my respects to everybody’s time in the court. To the court clerks, to the bailiffs, to the prosecution — even though the circumstances are grim — to my lawyers for coming in from where they came from. And, ultimately, also you, Mr. Herriford. Your Honor.
I didn’t prepare some sort of statement today, nor did I coerce or was coerced by my lawyers or rehearsed anything with my lawyers. I did want to speak honestly with the most integrity and just be honest with you as much as I can.
I have never been in the situation before, where I’m going through incarceration or being in court or being shackled and taken to and from by bailiffs and securities and stuff like that. This is fairly new to me. And despite my youth and the troubles that I’ve gone through as a youth, I made a decision and a promise to myself at a very young age to never land myself in the situation and the place that I’m standing right now, where I’m awaiting a sentence that could potentially ruin my life or change my life for a very long time or for whatever time that is imposed.
Better yet, my name is Daystar Peterson, as you know, Your Honor. What my name means is a biblical reference. And what it means is a revolutionary light progression to my generation. And I was born to two very radical Christians. Rest in peace to my mother. [Meghann’s note: He gestured upward when he said this.]
But I was born to two very radical Christians who were missionary preachers, and their main goal was to preach a purpose in me at all times. And my purpose that I grew up believing was mine is to be a light to people in dark places. To be a positive hand in helping people when they’re not helped. To be some sort of fixer and healer to those who feel broken. And for 30 years of my life — I’m 31 now. Last year, kind of more so being incarcerated. But in 30 years of my life, I have done my best to put my foot forward to do that. To be a light to people. To help people.
And as a celebrity, there’s been times when I’ve had mistakes. There’s been times when I’ve, you know, made the wrong decisions. There’s been times when I’ve had moments that were under a lot scrutiny, like this one right now. Through all of those moments as a celebrity, there’s times when the media can make things bigger than it is. They can change the story. They can do whatever it is that they do. And sometimes whatever they run with is what they’re gonna run with.
But, Your Honor, I’m not standing in front of you today as a celebrity. I’m standing before you as a regular person that genuinely just wants a chance. I am standing in front of you as a father to a child who is 6 years old, who is my world and needs me in his life every step of the way. I’m standing in front of you as a child to a father who thinks the same about me. I’m standing in front of you as a fiancé to the mother of my child. And, ultimately, I’m standing in front you as a person who just genuinely wants to better himself in any positive and possible way that I can and that’s available to me.
If it is possible, in any sort of way for you to exercise your hand, Your Honor, in any discretion to give me some sort of alternative sentence that’s not prison, I would like to prove to you and to everybody else in this room and to myself that I can be a betterment to my community. That I can use my platform and my influence to change things, as I’ve been, but at a better level. I want to be able to take the time to show the world that what they’re seeing right now is not me.
And, again, I’m here. And I’m asking for redemption. And I’m asking for another chance.
When I got to Men’s Central Jail in December, I — and again, I’ve never been in jail ever in my life — when I got to Men’s Central Jail, I learned a lot of things there. And basically being there, one thing that I did learn about myself when I started doing prayer calls and stuff like that for the other inmates, I noticed that a lot of inmates needed words of encouragement. A lot of inmates needed positive reinforcement in their lives in some sort of way. And even though these guys were the roughest and toughest guys that you’ll see as gangbangers or whatever they come from, I noticed that my voice was making a change and was making a difference inside of the module that I’m in.
Now, where I’m at, I don’t see other inmates. I can only distinctively know these people by their voices. There’s about 50 of us in a module. and I can’t see anybody, but I can hear everybody’s voice. And, basically, what I became was some sort of voice of reason to people where they started to write letters to me and basically explain to me how much what I was doing was helping them.
Now, Your Honor, I get it. I don’t stand in front of you as somebody who is just expecting some sort of preferential treatment. I don’t stand in front of you as somebody that’s expecting because I’m a celebrity that the rules have to change for me in any sort of way.
But, Your Honor, I genuinely am asking you to put me to the test. I’m asking you with my heart to give me the opportunity. And it doesn’t — and again — I’m not telling you how to do your job, Your Honor. At the end of the day, you’ve been fair as much as you have been in the two years that I’ve seen you. But I’m asking you to at least give me the chance. Even if you have to put a sentence over my head and allow me to show you. And if I mess up, then allow me to, if it’s possible.
Now, I understand how serious my charges are. I understand how serious the conviction is, and I don’t take it lightly. I don’t take your word lightly. I don’t take your authority lightly. In fact, I respect the court’s authority. I respect your ruling, whatever it’s gonna be, because at the end of the day that’s the bottom line. But I think that there’s been this common misconception about me being this monster and not having any sort of remorse or any sort of — I don’t even know what the word is — but not having some sort of sympathy in the situation that I’ve been in. And it’s just not true.
For a very long time I was placed on, as you know, a protective order where I wasn’t allowed to say anything to the victim. And the one time that I did say something to the victim, it was taken as something a little bit out of context of what I meant that specific message for. And I was chastised about that, and I was told not to say anything to the victim. So, just being there first, I wasn’t in a position to be able to publicly ever say anything to the victim or about my case.
But I do want to say this: That night was a night that everybody was drunk. Some things happened. I said some very immature things that I shouldn’t have said. I revealed some secrets that I shouldn’t have revealed to both the people in the car. And I was wrong. If I could turn back the series of events that night and change them, as unfortunate as they were, I would, but I can’t, and I apologize. I’m sorry that I did that. Sorry that I had those moments. And, again, if I could, I would — I would change them. But I can’t. But to think that I’m this callous individual that is some sort of victimizer or some sort of womanizer is just not true, because the victim was my friend. The victim was somebody that I still care for dearly to this day regardless of what she may think about me after the media has made this spectacle that it’s been.
Regardless of the fact, the victim’s my friend. She’s somebody that I sat there — and not to even touch on the subject — but we both lost our mothers. And we would sit there and drink and drink till it felt numb. That was what me and the victim had. We were friends that connected on various levels of deeper subjects than what has met the eye.
So, I just want to first and foremost say that for everything that i took part in — and my lawyers, you know, asked me not to go into certain details of certain things and I’ll respect that. Being that there’s a time and place. And I missed my time to say certain things. But as a person who was in this situation, I want to say that everything that I did wrong that night I take full responsibility for. I take full culpability for. And I am mature enough to say where I was wrong. If I could go into it, I would, but i know that this is not the place for that. But I do take responsibility for my wrongs.
So, again, Your Honor, I’m not asking you for any preferential treatment. I’m not asking you for anything that is beyond the scope of what you’re able to do. But I do ask, again, that you give me the chance to be a better father. A better mentor to those who look at me as a mentor. A better employer to those who I employ. And a better contributor to society by allowing me to show you that I can do things that are better than what I have done. It’s not about just charity, but it’s about the works that I have done. And, like I said, I know the convictions are serious. But I’m asking you not to judge me solely off of this conviction that I have in front of me right now. And I’m asking you to look at the scope of my life for 30 years, and the person that I have been despite the things that I’ve come through and the problems I’ve surpassed in my life to get to this point.
I’m not a person who in any shape, way or form doesn’t believe in self-help. In fact, I thought that today in some sort of way I would be able to get that on certain things that I’m still lacking. I do have a habitual disorder. I do have that. And, again, I’m not here to touch on any of the other subjects. I’m only here to talk to you about me and about, you know, my remorse in the situation, and my responsibility and culpability in the situation. And I just wanted to let you know that I truly am just trying to be a better person. And if you’ll allow me that chance, I promise that I will make your decision worth the while. But I will also make your decision make sense. And I can prove to you that I will do this right, if you give me another chance at my life. That’s all I want to say, Your Honor.”
Judge Herriford: “All right. Thank you, Mr. Peterson.”
I went live on YouTube to discuss this article and answer questions. You can watch here:
I’ll distribute the full sentencing transcript next week, and I’ll have a final article soon on all of Lanez’s sentencing letters. Here are the transcripts I have so far:
Two-day hearing in May on Lanez’s motion for new trial
Megan Thee Stallion’s full trial testimony on Dec. 13, 2022
Day 2 of Kelsey Harris’ trial testimony on Dec. 15, 2022
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