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. (Photos by Scott Roth, left, Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
It’s been more than a year since Megan Thee Stallion filed a defamation lawsuit against Milagro Gramz (real name Cooper). The case has been inching towards a trial for several months, and this week, it kicked off with jury selection in Miami. Megan has accused the blogger of being part of a “coordinated campaign” to tarnish her reputation allegedly with the financial backing of Tory Lanez.Lanez was deposed at least three times. But on the last jailhouse chat, the incarcerated rapper reportedly refused to answer questions. In response, a judge reportedly held him in contempt and fined him a double stack!
According to Rolling Stone, Judge Lisette M. Reid filed her decision on Sunday (November 16) following his third jailhouse deposition. The third questioning took place last Friday. Tory Lanez reportedly began by asking what the consequences would be for declining the questions. Learning of a possible fine and being held in contempt didn’t deter him.
“Whatever the fines are, I’ll pay them,” Tory Lanez reportedly said. “I’m a millionaire. I don’t care.”
Judge Reid wrote in her filing about Tory’s alleged behavior. She said Tory “stormed out of the room” at one point, and directed comments like “liar” and “calm down” at Megan’s lawyer. Additionally, he refused to answer questions about how he met or learned about Milagro Gramz. He also declined to say whether he was involved in any contact with the blogger via text or Instagram. The judge said Megan’s legal asked the questions “properly” but Lanez still “refused to answer and ultimately terminated the deposition without answering any questions.”
Daystar Peterson (the rapper’s legal name) now owes Megan Thee Stallion’s lawyers $20,000. The fine is for “his obstruction of Plaintiff’s multiple attempts to depose him,” the judge said in her filing.Tory Lanez’s lawyer, Crystal Morgan, also took an L. Rolling Stone reports that the judge also fined her.
“As a result of Mr. Peterson’s deliberate evasion during three attempted depositions, and his attorney’s coordinated scheme with him to object, obstruct, coach, and deny the opportunity for questioning at his third deposition, both Mr. Peterson and his attorney are hereby held in contempt of court,” the judge wrote, per ABC News.
Tory Lanez has not publicly commented on the ruling.
The new ruling against Tory was the talk of the internet as Milagro Gramz’s trial finally kicked off on Monday with jury selection and opening statements. Five men and four women were ultimately selected to serve on the jury. For clarity, Megan is suing on three claims of defamation, which includes Milagro claiming Meg committed perjury during her trial, intentional infliction of motional distress by working with Tory Lanez, and promoting an AI-generated sex tape of Thee Stalllion.
According to Legal Affairs & Trials reporter Meghann Cuniff, during opening, Megan’s lawyer played the fake sex tape–the same one Milagro is accused of promoting. The lawyer also told the jury they will learn how Milagro Gramz built a brand on attacking Megan in coordination with Tory Lanez and his team. In contrast, Cooper’s lawyer accused Meg of trying “desperately” to “drive a California criminal trial across the country, to replay it for [the jury]” in Miami.
Milagro Gramz (Cooper) began testimony on Monday as well, before continuing on Tuesday. She reportedly claimed that she shared the video under the impression that it was real. “Unfortunately, sex tapes are something of the public interest. It came up, and I spoke about it,” Gramz said on the stand, per Meghann Cuniff report.
Megan Thee Stallion is likely to take the stand on Wednesday. She’s suing for an unspecified amount for compensatory damages, punitive damages, statutory damages, attorney’s fees, costs, interest, and “all other damages that are just and proper.”
This is week two of Tory Lanez’s facing legal setbacks involving Megan Thee Stallion. A California court last Wednesday denied the rapper’s appeal of his guilty verdict from the 2020 shooting of Meg.A three-judge panel from the California 2nd District Court of Appeal issued a ruling saying they affirm the triple-charge conviction. Lanez was convicted of three felonies in December of 2022: assault with a semiautomatic firearm; having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
Associated Press entertainment writer Andrew Dalton contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
