Megan Thee Stallion: ‘Do I Not Seem Like I’m Worth Being Treated Like a Woman?’

Today, Rolling Stone unveiled a new cover story starring none other than thee original hot girl, Megan Thee Stallion (Megan Jovon Ruth Pete), aka the singular celebrity I’ll happily spare from any anti-elitist vitriol online.

In it, the rapper leads a contingent of her closest friends out of a Los Angeles escape room, indulges in a six-course vegetarian spread prepared by her chef, and sips tea as she previews her upcoming album, all the while getting candid about everything from the deaths of her parents and beloved great-grandmother to her relationship with boyfriend, Pardison Fontaine. As a longtime fan, it defies my every impulse not to glom onto each and every one of Ms. Stallion’s revelations, yet one, in particular, immediately had the internet abuzz.

“I want [Tory Lanez] to go to jail… I want him to go under the jail,” the “Plan B” hitmaker resolutely told interviewer, Mankaprr Conteh. While I’m not quite certain what exactly that means, I can imagine Ms. Stallion is implying that she wishes much worse than prison upon the man who, according to police reports, court testimony, and public hospital records, opened fire on her. And after all, Lanez, born Daystar Patterson, subjected her to in the wake of the July 2020 shooting, who can blame her?

Since it made headline news, Lanez has led something of a coordinated social media campaign against Megan, with the latter quickly becoming the subject of an onslaught of online vitriol from Lanez fans who’ve accused her of lying about the incident. Lanez has always maintained he did not shoot at Megan—but she’s remained unwavering in her recollection of that night, despite what’s often been violent misogynoir.

Megan also spoke graciously of her supporters but theorized why so many still don’t seem convinced of her testimony. “In some kind of way I became the villain,” Megan said. “And I don’t know if people don’t take it seriously because I seem strong. I wonder if it’s because of the way I look. Is it because I’m not light enough? Is it that I’m not white enough? Am I not the shape? The height? Because I’m not petite? Do I not seem like I’m worth being treated like a woman?”

In April, Megan gave a sitdown interview with CBS Mornings’ Gayle King, where she recalled the seemingly innocent argument—which took place at a party at Kylie Jenner’s house—that preceded the shooting.

“It was an argument because I was ready to go and everybody else wasn’t ready to go,” Megan told King.“But that’s, like, normal friend stuff … It shouldn’t have got this crazy.” Megan, Lanez, and their friends apparently left the party together in an SUV. But as the argument continued, she exited the vehicle and claimed Lanez began shooting at her.

“He said, ‘Dance, bitch,’” Megan tearfully recalled. “And he started shooting. And I’m just like, ‘Oh, my God.’”

The interview was far from the first time Megan has spoken publicly about the shooting. Just weeks afterward, she posted a graphic photograph of the alleged gunshot wounds following multiple claims—from Lanez and scores of his fans —that she wasn’t actually hurt. And though she’s been vocal that, at first, she attempted to protect Lanez by keeping the shooting information private and not revealing her assailant’s name to the public, she told Rolling Stone that vicious rumors, jokes, and memes—many of which were spread by Lanez and his supporters—of the shooting were ultimately what prompted her to reveal more details of that night.

The online attacks against Megan continued even up until February. After Megan posted screenshots of an apology Lanez texted to her hours after the shooting, he took to Twitter to respond, writing, “Good Dick had me fucking 2 best friends…and I got caught …that’s what I apologized 4 …it’s sick how u Spun it tho . . .”

Three months after the shooting, Lanez was charged with one felony count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and another for carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle—both of which he’s pleaded guilty to. After a recent pre-trial hearing, he was sent to jail for violating his restraining order against Pete due to his taunting on social media. The case is set to go to trial in September. If convicted, Lanez could face up to 22 years and eight months in prison.

Heartbreakingly, Megan emotionally spoke of the bond she thought she shared with Lanez—the pair became close friends after the deaths of her mother and great-grandmother and found kinship in their respective grief (Lanez lost his mother at the age of 11).

“I thought he knew me. And I never would’ve thought he would’ve shot at me at all.”

Even still, the story ends on a hopeful note with Megan offering a message to anyone struggling to overcome their own trauma: “I’m still not letting nothing knock me down to take me off my game. So you shouldn’t let nothing take you off your game, either. Because if I can get through this shit, you could get through your shit.”