Tory Lanez Trial: Kelsey Harris' September Statement In Which She Admits Witnessing Lanez Shoot Megan Thee Stallion Is Presented In Court
Update (December 16, 5:00 p.m. EST)
On Friday (December 16), the jury in Tory Lanez's assault case reportedly heard the September 2022 statement made by Megan Thee Stallion's former best friend, Kelsey Harris, to prosecutors during which she admitted witnessing Lanez shoot the Houston rapper in the feet.
Los Angeles Times reporter James Queally, who has been attending the court proceedings all week, tweeted that the tape revealed that not only did Harris make that admission, but also claimed the Toronto rapper "physically assaulted" her after alleged shooting by "pulling and dragging on her hair."
Additionally, Queally reports that there was a discussion about a bribe for Harris' silence but there was never an explicit offer made. He also says that, on the tape, Harris says the argument that lead to the shooting had much more to do with their careers than about sexual encounters between members of the trio.
Rolling Stone senior reporter Nancy Dillon, provided a more specific description of Harris' September admission that Lanez shot Megan.
"He’s shooting over the top of the door," Dillion tweeted of Harris' statement. "He was leaning over the front passenger door and he was shooting the gun...(Megan) was walking away when this happened, but by the 3rd or 4th shot, she was facing towards us, and I would describe it as like a deer in headlights."
Previously, the Harris interview tape could not be played in court, but the judge allowed it to be used as evidence of prior inconsistent statements and after the prosecution raised the issue that the defense had "opened the door" by implying prosecutors pressured Harris during the interview.
One more witness, who has not been named to the court, is expected to testify with the trial slated to resume on Monday.
Update (December 15, 5:00 p.m. EST)
During her second day of testimony on Thursday, Megan Thee Stallion's former best friend Kelsey Harris took the witness stand and continued to express confusion and amnesia over the circumstances surrounding Tory Lanez's alleged shooting of the Houston rapper in July 2020.
Similar to Wednesday, Harris is suddenly claiming she doesn't remember any of the details from the night of the shooting, but is certain that she didn't take a $1 million bribe from the Toronto rapper, born Daystar Peterson, who allegedly offered the large sum to her for her silence.
According to TMZ, under cross-examination, Lanez's attorney asked Harris if their client paid her anything in relation to the shooting.
"No. I want to make it very clear ... Tory didn't pay me anything," she said.
That statement was one of Harris' longest of the day as most of her other answers to questions, from both the prosecution and defense, were one-word. When asked by the prosecution if she remembered telling them during a September interview "that Tory tried to bribe you?" She replied, "I don't remember what I said in September."
The amnesia also set in regards to telling prosecutors in September that Lanez fired the gun at Megan's feet or seeing her limping after the gunshots were fired during the incident.
Additionally, Harris said she was "receiving pressure" when she made her September statement but offered a very vague "from everything" answer when asked who was getting to her.
When asked straight up, "Who shot [Megan]?" Kelsey replied, "I don't know," TMZ reports.
According to Rolling Stone senior reporter Nancy Dillon, Deputy District Attorney Kathy Ta was "flabbergasted" by Harris' flip-flop over who she said shot Megan Thee Stallion.
Dillion also notes that the jury heard testimony from the doctor who removed four bullet fragments from Megan's feet and that the judge ruled that the defense can contact LAPD Det. Ryan Stoger to ask why he didn't pursue Harris as the possible shooter.
Attorney C.J. Lawrence, who is independent of the shooting case, notes on Twitter that it's "unique" Harris was called as the prosecution's witness but then aggressively questioned by the D.A.'s office.
"But in this instance, I think that Tory’s attorney's focus on [Harris' September statements made on tape] (even though at that point they had not come in substantively) gave the prosecution the ammo they needed to dig into the tapes beyond just showing where Kelsey had previously made a different statement on certain issues: seeing Tory shoot Meg, seeing Meg limping, all of the things she suddenly had “brain fog” about. The defense attempted to cross her on her video statements (which were damning to Tory)."
During Harris' first day of testimony on Wednesday, she swore under oath that she wasn't the one who pulled the trigger, which leaves only the driver of the SUV the trio were in and Lanez. No one's ever alleged the driver fired the shots.
Update (December 14, 6:00 p.m. EST)
Wednesday afternoon, Megan Thee Stallion's former best friend Kelsey Harris took the witness stand at Tory Lanez's felony assault trial, and after some legal wrangling, admitted that Lanez allegedly threatened to shoot her inside the vehicle the trio were traveling in during the July 2020 incident.
Rolling Stone reports that the 27-year-old Harris said it was preposterous to claim she was the one who fired a gun on the Houston rapper, born Megan Peet, wounding both of her feet during a heated argument following a pool party at Kylie Jenner's Hollywood Hills home.
“I mean, it’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous,” Harris testified.
Megan's best friend of seven years – prior to their friendship deteriorating following the incident – was considered a wild card of sorts before the trial because she didn't speak publicly about it.
Appearing shaken during her testimony, Harris noted her uncooperative nature by telling the court "I don't want to be here today" and that the entire trial and original incident is "a triggering situation," Rolling Stone senior reporter Nancy Dillon tweeted.
"It happened in the face of a million people, with lies from Megan," she added, but did not elaborate on what Megan was lying about.
Harris also consulted with her attorney as she pondered whether to invoke her Fifth Amendment rights. After Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott granted Harris "use" immunity for her testimony, which Los Angeles Times reporter James Queally explains prevents the use of her testimony in this case to prosecute her for a crime, but doesn't mean they are declining to prosecute her for any criminal conduct they become aware of. The "ridiculous" claim she made was after this agreement agreement between her lawyers and the DA was made.
After leaving the party in an SUV, Harris said "everyone's calling each other names, taking jabs at each other," and told jurors that Tory did ask Megan to tell Harris about their history, and then Harris called Megan out for her "disloyalty."
Deputy District Attorney Kathy Ta then questioned Harris whether Lanez had threatened her with a gun during the three-way argument. Harris, who initially sought to avoid answering the question, eventually confirmed that Lanez did threaten her.
Harris then shrunk on the stand when Ta asked her what Tory told her as he threatened her in the car and asked to consult with her lawyer and attempted to plead the Fifth. When asked to answer the question prior to the afternoon break, she took a long pause and said, "I don't know."
After the break, Harris continued her testimony by saying that her initial interview in September 2022 with the DA's office was "not 100 percent truthful," but didn't offer specifics on what exactly she wasn't truthful about.
In the September interview, Harris said Lanez threatened to shoot her and ultimately fired five shots, aimed at Megan's feet. On Wednesday, she declined to confirm that Megan was shot and did not confirm that she was offered $1 million in hush money to stay quiet, which Megan testified took place on Tuesday.
Update (December 14, 11:30 a.m. EST)
On Tuesday (December 13), Megan Thee Stallion took the stand as a witness for the prosecution during Tory Lanez' assault trial in Los Angeles Superior Court.
For the first time, the Houston rapper spoke publicly and in explicit detail about the night the Toronto rapper, born Daystar Peterson, allegedly shot her in the feet in 2020 and the subsequent residual effects on her life and career.
NPR reports that Megan, born Megan Peet, described her account, saying under oath that the assault was the result of an argument she had with Lanez and Kelsey Harris, her former best friend and assistant, while driving home from a party at Kylie Jenner's Hollywood Hills home where a pool party had taken place.
"I can't even be happy," the Grammy winner said while her voice broke during her afternoon testimony. "I can't hold conversations with people for a long time. I don't feel like I want to be on this earth. I wish he would have just shot and killed me, if I knew I would have to go through this torture."
Megan recounted that she and Lanez had an intimate but not exclusive relationship at the time, and one that Harris did not know about. She says Harris had a "crush on" Lanez, so she hid the relationship. She also noted that embarrassment kept her from revealing the nature of her relationship with Tory "because it's disgusting at this point. How could I share my body with someone who could do this to me?"
The 27-year-old rapper reportedly testified that the vehicle fight began when Lanez hinted at his relationship with Megan to Harris and then attempted to put the two women against each other, describing them as "bitches and hoes" in the car.
According to the Los Angeles Times, she then said that after exiting the vehicle for a second time on the drive home, Lanez yelled at her to "Dance, b***h," before firing five shots at her from the passenger side, striking both of her feet.
"I felt shocked. I felt hurt. I wasn't sure if this was really happening. I looked at my feet, I saw the blood and I fell to the ground," Megan testified.
Following the immediate aftermath of the alleged shooting but prior to police arriving, Megan said everything began to get “blurry,” but recalled Lanez “apologizing” in the car when they heard sirens.
“He’s saying, ‘Please don’t say anything. I’ll give y’all a million dollars. I can’t go to jail. I already got caught with a gun before,’” she testified, according to Rolling Stone.
Additionally, Megan Thee Stallion noted that she originally told police that she stepped in glass rather than being shot because she's grown very suspicious of American law enforcement, which has been further stoked by George Floyd's 2020 death by police, among other cases, and the subsequent Black Lives Matter protests.
"In the Black community — in my community — it's not really acceptable to be cooperating with police officers," she told jurors, which she says is also compounded by how "women aren't believed when they speak out."
Update (December 13, 3:50 p.m. EST)
According to Rolling Stone senior reporter Nancy Dillon, Megan Thee Stallion was called as witness into the main criminal courthouse in downtown Los Angeles at 11:15 a.m. PST.
"Her voice cracked on 1st question, when asked if she knew Daystar Peterson. She quickly regained composure," tweets Dillon, adding "Asked if she was 'nervous,' she replied: 'I just don't feel good. I can't believe I have to come up here and do this.'"
Additionally, L.A. Times reporter James Queally reports that "[Megan Thee Stallion] confirms that while the argument started about their romantic situation, it quickly escalated to a fight about their careers. Lanez apparently told MTS she "ain't s**t" and MTS responded by insulting his stature in industry. She said that really set him off."
Update (December 13, 1:00 p.m. EST)
Megan Thee Stallion enters the courtroom.
Original:
On Monday (December 12), Tory Lanez’s trial began in Los Angeles over a July 2020 incident where he’s accused of shooting Megan Thee Stallion.
If convicted on all three felony counts, which include discharging a firearm with gross negligence, assault with a semiautomatic firearm and carrying a concealed, loaded, and unregistered firearm in a vehicle, the Toronto rapper, born Daystar Peterson, could face more than 20 years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Neither Lanez nor the Houston rapper, born Megan Peet, took the stand on Monday, however the latter is reportedly expected to testify Tuesday.
According to Rolling Stone, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott told jurors during his opening arguments that Megan Thee Stallion was shot by Tory Lanez. Kelsey Harris – Megan’s former friend and assistant – was apparently with the two musical artists prior to, during, and after the shooting.
“Kelsey will tell you that she just saw her close friend get shot by the defendant,” Bott said, reportedly revealing that Harris will also take the stand.
Additionally, prosecutors also reportedly showed a visual of three text messages that Harris is said to have sent to Megan’s bodyguard Justin Edison in the five minutes following the shooting, including, “Help,” “Tory Shot Meg,” and “911.”
The Los Angeles Times reports that Bott also played a portion of a voicemail in which Lanez apologized and acknowledged he was intoxicated at the time of the shooting, but fell short of explicitly saying he discharged the gun.
“I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart... s**t should have never happened and I can’t change what I did,” a text shared by the prosecution reads that Lanez allegedly sent Megan.
George G. Mgdesyan, Lanez’s defense attorney, reportedly used his opening statement to frame alleged “jealousy” between Megan and Harris, who he claims both had sexual relationships with Lanez. Mgdesyan also alleges that Megan and Lanez started fighting during a party at Kylie Jenner’s house and that Corey Gamble, who apparently witnessed some of the argument, will take the stand.
Earlier this month, Tory Lanez was released from house arrest at a judge’s discretion in order to prepare for his trial. A protective order bars Lanez from contacting Megan Thee Stallion in person or otherwise.
