No Country for Tory Lanez
After silence and outright disrespect, it’s time to excommunicate Meg’s alleged shooter for good
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Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
Journalistically, I’m supposed to use the word “allegedly” when talking about Tory Lanez shooting Megan Thee Stallion in the foot in a fit of rage in July. The word “allegedly” is supposed to be used because, despite the fact Megan Thee Stallion confirmed — er, accused — Lanez of shooting her in the foot multiple times, it hasn’t been proven in a court of law. Those are the rules, I guess.
Also, journalistically, I’m not supposed to advocate for Lanez getting tossed down a flight of stairs onto a stack of bear traps.
And, journalistically, I am supposed to have listened to the project Lanez released at midnight that was supposed to tell his side of the story or whatever before writing about him today. Journalistically, I should have subjected myself to the 17-track album, which he teased ahead of time, tweeting, “I’m sorry for my silence … but respectfully … I got time today,” making people believe he was going to actually say something of substance or even apologize for what he “allegedly” did.
Respectfully, fuck that.
I know all I need to know about Lanez and his continued act of anti-women violence. I’ve seen the lyrics like “how the fuck you get shot in your foot, don’t hit no bones or tendons,” repeating the bogus conspiracy theories that have circulated online to defend his innocence. I’ve seen the fact he insults as many women as humanly possible, including Kehlani and Dreamdoll, through the course of his songs (which, as long we’re talking about music, generally don’t come even remotely close to good).
I can’t express enough how despicable it is to shoot a Black woman, go silent, then pretend to offer some sort of contrition or explanation that turns out to be a ruse to promote an album that goes on to continue to insult that same Black woman. That’s bad enough. But I can’t even wrap my brain around what it takes to release that album a day after Black women had to endure the pain of seeing Breonna Taylor’s killers escape prosecution. To perpetuate…
