The first day of Tory Lanez’s felony assault trial has begun. The case has gripped the hip-hop world as opening statements from both the prosecution and defense made shocking revelations.
According to reporters live at the Los Angeles court hearing, the opening statements have finally outlined the cases for the prosecution and defense to bring light to the accusation and the rebuttals to what being a highly publicized hip-hop case over the past two years.
One of the bombshell accusations from the prosecution was that Tory Lanez told Megan “dance b*tch” before firing five shots at her.
According to updates from Rolling Stone’s Nancy Dillon, the prosecution, in opening statements, confirmed that Megan Thee Stallion will take the stand to testify against Tory while her ex-best friend, Kelsey Harris, who was subpoenaed by prosecutors, will also testify against Tory Lanez that she “saw her close friend get shot by the defendant.”
Reports on the prosecution statements also claim that the argument that led to the shooting was over Megan dissing Tory’s rap skills. After firing the shots at her, the Houston rapper hobbled to a nearby residence, a witness named Sean Kelly will testify.
Lead prosecutor Alexander Bott also revealed that while Megan was bleeding, Kelsey ran to help her, and Tory Followed. However, when Kelsey tried to make Tory stop, he punched Kelsey and pulled her to the ground by her hair, No Jumper reported while relaying what prosecutors said. The “Luv” rapper then allegedly demanded both women get back into the SUV, and they complied.
That’s when Kelsey sent three texts to Megan’s bodyguard Justin Edison that prosecutors say will be used to substantiate her testimony.
The texts sent at 4:27 a.m., just five minutes after the alleged shooting, were placed on a projector in court. It read, “Help,” “Tory shot Meg,” and “911” in separate texts.
The prosecution says that police were called by residents who reported shots fired from a black SUV.
The prosecution will also bring other evidence, including a supposed apology voicemail by Tory to Kelsey, which was played in court that painted a picture that Lanez was extremely sorry, although it’s unclear why he was apologizing, L. A Times reporter James Queally said.
Another piece of evidence to come is a text from Tory to Megan after the incident.
“I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart….sh*t should have never happened and I can’t change what I did,” one of Lanez’s alleged texts sent to Megan a day later read.
There is also another text from Tory to Megan’s bodyguard apologizing.
The prosecution also seemed to deny that Megan and Tory had an intimate relationship. Earlier this year, Megan had denied that she and Tory were ever romantically involved in an interview with Gail King.
On the other hand, in opening statements, Lanez’s attorney George Mgdesyan said that the case is about “jealousy between Megan and Kelsey Harris” and that the latter was upset that Megan had gone behind her back and slept with Lanez.
Another messy detail was brought up by Lanez’s lawyer, who said that Kelsey and Megan’s blow-up was preceded by a “drunken jealous tirade” at Kylie’s house because Megan was jealous of Kylie and that led to the Kar-Jenner clan member kicking them out of the party.
The defense claims that Tory had followed Megan after she was kicked out, and they began to argue while Kelsey took Megan’s side. However, to win the argument, Tory revealed that Megan had slept with him behind Tory’s back. All of this arguing occurred in the SUV, which Megan demanded to be let out, the attorney said. After the SUV stopped, Megan went to Kelsey’s side of the car and proceeded to beat up Kelsey. A police witness reportedly saw this, Tory’s lawyer claims.
The defense also brought up past incidents of the friends fighting in similar situations involving rapper DaBaby and NBA player Ben Simmons.
The defense counsel confirmed that Kylie’s stepfather Corey Gamble would be testifying in court for Tory.
Earlier on Monday, it was revealed in court that both Tory Lanez and Kelsey Harris had tested positive for gunshot residue. However, the defense’s position was pointing at an alternate shooting which could be Kelsey, although the defense counsel did not outrightly point fingers at Kelsey.
There are reports that Kelsey Harris, who is no longer friends with Megan Thee Stallion after the shooting and whom Megan had accused of taking hush money from Lanez, changed her mind and agreed to testify for the prosecution after Tory’s lawyers seemed to suggest that she was the one who shot Megan.
Tory Lanez is facing one count of assault with a semi-automatic firearm in a manner to inflict bodily injury, one count of carrying a concealed, loaded, and unregistered firearm, and discharging a firearm in a grossly negligent manner to cause bodily injury. The third charge was tacked on last week ahead of the trial starting.
