Tory Lanez refuses to “apologize for the charges I’m being wrongfully convicted of” just two days after he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for shooting fellow rapper Megan Thee Stallion in the feet in 2020.
“I have never let a hard time intimidate me. I will never never let no jail time eliminate me,” the “Say It” rapper, 31, started a lengthy Instagram statement Thursday.
“Regardless of how they try to spin my words, I have always maintained my innocence and I always will.”
He continued: “This week in court I took responsibility for all verbal and intimate moments that I shared with the parties involved… that’s it.”
“In no way shape or form was I apologizing for the charges I’m being wrongfully convicted of. I remain on the stance that I refuse to apologize for something that I did not do,” Lanez added.
The “What’s Poppin” rapper continued that he’s always “faced adversity my whole life” and that his sentence is “nothing but another moment where my back is against the wall and I refuse to stop fighting till I come out victorious.”
“Tough times don’t last, tough people do,” he stated before signing off with a “thank you” to his supporters.
The Post has contacted reps for Lanez and Megan, 28, for comment.
Lanez fired a gun at the back of Megan’s feet and shouted for her to dance in an argument that ensued after a party at Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood Hills home on July 12, 2020.
He was convicted in December of three felonies: assault with a semiautomatic firearm; having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle; and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
He spoke for several minutes at his sentencing hearing Tuesday, calling Megan “someone I still care for dearly to this day.”
“We both lost our mothers. We would sit there and drink, and drink until we got numb,” Lanez said of Megan, who had to have surgery to remove bullet fragments.
“The Color Violet” rapper, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, also addressed his behavior in the aftermath of the shooting: “I said some very immature things that I shouldn’t have said. I revealed some secrets I shouldn’t have revealed.”
“If I could turn back the series of events that night and change them, I would,” Lanez continued. “The victim was my friend. The victim is someone I still care for to this day.”
He added, “Everything I did wrong that night, I take full responsibility for.”
Lanez’s legal team said Tuesday they plan to appeal the sentence and conviction and will attempt to have the Canadian rapper released on bail as their requests play out. Prosecutors had sought a 13-year sentence.
“We’re extremely disappointed,” Lanez’s lead attorney, Jose Baez, said outside the courthouse Tuesday. “I have seen vehicular homicide and other cases where there’s death, and the defendant still gets less than 10 years.”
Baez called the sentence “really just another example of someone being punished for their celebrity status and someone being utilized to set an example. And he’s not an example. He’s a human being.”
At a press conference after the sentencing, LA District Attorney George Gascón read part of a statement from Megan, whose real name is Megan Pete.
“Every day, I think of others across the world, or victims of violence, and survivors,” her statement said. “It is truly the most powerless feeling, especially when you question whether the justice system can truly protect you.”
Megan’s message continued: “Fortunately, the district attorney’s office fought for me. I’m incredibly grateful to them and the jury for the attention to the evidence and siding with the truth.
”But if it can happen to me, imagine those who lack the resources and support systems,” she concluded.
District Attorney Kathy Ta also read Megan’s statement in court Monday. The “Sweetest Pie” rapper said she would not appear at the proceedings to protect her mental health.
The three-time Grammy winner reported experiencing depression after Lanez shot her due to “public humiliation,” thanks to disparaging remarks by naysayers who “treated my trauma like a running joke.”
“He [Lanez] not only shot me, he made a mockery of my trauma. He tried to position himself as a victim and set out to destroy my character and my soul,” Megan wrote in her statement.
“He lied to anyone that would listen and paid bloggers to disseminate false information about the case on social media. He released music videos and songs to damage my character and continue his crusade.”
Megan further claimed: “At first, he tried to deny the shooting ever happened. Then, he attempted to place the blame on my former best friend. In his tantrum of lies, he’s blamed the system, blamed the press and, as of late, he’s using his childhood trauma to shield himself and avoid culpability.”
With Post wires
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