“You’re facing years in prison, over 22 years in prison,” said Judge Keith H. Borjon to the Canadian artist.
When Tory Lanez joined DaBaby on stage at the Rolling Loud Miami festival in July, neither of them saw the negative outcomes coming. While the Charlotte-bred rapper faced backlash and canceled performances for homophobic remarks made to the crowd, Lanez was ordered to pay a literal price for his surprise appearance.
The 29-year-old singer violated a legal mandate to stay at least 100 yards from rapper Megan Thee Stallion, who was backstage and within close proximity while the two performed their collaborative single, “SKAT.” Seminole Tribal Police and the L.A. County D.A.’s office were reportedly contacted by Thee Stallion’s team. Now, after facing a judge, Lanez’s bail has been increased for the nonsensical behavior.
According to Billboard, the “Say It” singer, legal name Daystar Peterson, appeared in court at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles on Monday (Aug. 23) where a judge ruled he pay $250,000 bail for violating the protective order to stay away from the Houston rapper. The amount was increased from an initial $190,000. He was able to post the larger amount and exit the courthouse.
“You’re facing years in prison, over 22 years in prison,” said Judge Keith H. Borjon to Lanez. “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.”
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Judge Borjon initially introduced the possibility of monitoring the singer’s whereabouts through a court-ordered tracking device. However, his attorney Shawn Holley argued against it. Lanez’s legal team argued the appearance was not malicious and only done to further her client’s musical career.
“It was a unique circumstance, errors in judgment were made, but this can easily be prevented from happening again,” Holley argued. “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.”
However, the prosecution fired back with its own argument. Prosecutor Kathy Ta explained how the appearance was not a sheer coincidence.
“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 sheer 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.”
Megan Thee Stallion accused Tory Lanez of toting the weapon responsible for the bullet wounds in her feet during a summer 2020 incident. In November, he entered a plea of not guilty on felony assault and weapons charges. During an interview published by GQ that same month, the “Thot Sh*t” rapper claimed Lanez attempted to buy her silence.
“[At this point] I’m really scared, because this is like right in the middle of all the protesting,” she recalled of the night in question. “Police are just killing everybody for no reason, and I’m thinking, ‘I can’t believe you even think I want to take some money. Like, you just shot me.’”
Lanez is due back in court on Sept. 2, 2021.
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