*Megan Thee Stallion penned a heartfelt op-ed for The New York Times published Tuesday, in which she calls on the protection of Black women.
The rapper keeps it real about her experience with violence, specifically as it relates to rapper Tory Lanez, who this week was ordered by a L.A. judge to stay at least 100 yards away from the hip-hop star. He is also to have no contact with Megan amid his criminal case for allegedly shooting her.
Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, made an appearance by phone on Tuesday for a Los Angeles court hearing, and he did not enter a plea. His bail, raised from $35,000 to $190,000, was promptly posted, according to the Associated Press.
He was also ordered to surrender any guns he owns.
READ MORE: Megan Thee Stallion Uses ‘SNL’ Spot to Blast Kentucky AG: Calls Him A ‘Sellout Negro’
Thank you, @theestallion, for using your voice to speak out. Black women DO deserve better.
I promise when @JoeBiden and I are elected, we’ll continue to show up not just with lip service, but with action.https://t.co/jZbVxMp3cP
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) October 14, 2020
We previously reported… Lanez is accused of shooting at Megan’s feet several times and wounding her on July 12 in Hollywood Hills.
“I was recently the victim of an act of violence by a man,” Megan writes in the The Times essay, without naming Tory. “Truthfully, I was shocked that I ended up in that place,” she wrote. “My initial silence about what happened was out of fear for myself and my friends. Even as a victim, I have been met with skepticism and judgment. The way people have publicly questioned and debated whether I played a role in my own violent assault proves that my fears about discussing what happened were, unfortunately, warranted.”
Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, faces two felony charges: assault with a semiautomatic firearm and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle. If convicted, he’ll serve a maximum sentence of 23 years.
“After a lot of self-reflection on that incident, I’ve realized that violence against women is not always connected to being in a relationship,” Megan Thee Stallion says. “Instead, it happens because too many men treat all women as objects, which helps them to justify inflicting abuse against us when we choose to exercise our own free will.”
Megan Thee Stallion appeared on the season premiere of SNL earlier this month, and during her performance flashed messages including “Protect Black women.” She also criticized Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron over his handling of the Breonna Taylor case.
“I’m not afraid of criticism,” she said. “We live in a country where we have the freedom to criticize elected officials. And it’s ridiculous that some people think the simple phrase ‘Protect Black women’ is controversial. We deserve to be protected as human beings. And we are entitled to our anger about a laundry list of mistreatment and neglect that we suffer.”
WATCH:
In Opinion
Video: “What does it mean to be a woman of color?” asks Megan Thee Stallion. “She’s got to be strong, because that’s just the expectation.” https://t.co/6bmVcH8PpI
— The New York Times (@nytimes) October 13, 2020
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