On Monday afternoon, Tory Lanez (né Daystar Peterson) appeared in court at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles, where a judge ordered him to pay $250,000 bail after the rapper violated a protective order that requires him to stay at least 100 yards away from Megan Thee Stallion.
The judge increased the sum from a previous amount of $190,000.
During the hearing, Lanez spoke briefly to greet judge Keith H. Borjon and again to swiftly apologize for his actions.
The penalty comes nearly one month after Lanez made a surprise appearance at the Rolling Loud Miami festival on July 25, in which he joined DaBaby onstage to perform — moments after Megan Thee Stallion delivered her set. For Lanez, attending and performing at the event was in violation of the protective order he was issued in October, which mandated that he stay at least 100 yards away from Megan at all times.
At one point in court, the judge revealed that he was going to issue Lanez a court-ordered tracking device. But the rapper’s attorney, Shawn Holley, helped prevent the measure by giving a series of arguments. She said, “It was a unique circumstance, errors in judgement were made, but this can easily be prevented from happening again.” She went on to say, “If [Tory’s] intention was to harass or intimidate [Megan Thee Stallion], she would have known he was there at the time. He would have seen her and she would have seen him … He went there for a legitimate purpose as far as his artistry is concerned .. to perform a song, a part of a song.”
Prosecutor Kathy Ta however, did not agree with Holley. She argued that Lanez’s appearance at Rolling Loud was not situational and that he went out of his way to violate his orders. “I don’t think music festivals are unique, I think if anything, they happen rather frequently,” she said. “This was not a situational circumstance. The share amount of effort it required [for Tory] to get to this venue and do everything that he did, I think that speaks volumes about his conduct. It wasn’t by chance and it wasn’t a situational situation, it was by design.”
Though Lanez was not detained because he could post bail, the judge warned that he would be remanded if he comes near Megan again. He also noted that Lanez is “really fortunate” to be in the position to be able to post bail and avoid detainment.
“You’re facing years in prison, over 22 years in prison,” Judge Borjon said. “They could have filed an additional charge based on violating the protective order because that’s a violation of law as well. You do not want to be doing things like this sir. You have the means and the where with all and a lot of smart people around you to advise you as to how you should be conducting your life so we don’t have to have hearings like this.”
Lanez is due back in court on Sept. 2.
According to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office, the rapper was charged on Thursday (Oct. 8) with one felony count each of assault with a semiautomatic firearm – personal use of a firearm – and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle. He also faces a gun allegation and that he personally inflicted great bodily injury. If convicted, he faces a maximum state prison sentence of 22 years and eight months. Lanez allegedly shot Megan Thee Stallion in July 2020 after the pair had an argument.
