Megan Thee Stallion gives emotional testimony in federal defamation trial against blogger
The hip-hop star said she hopes sharing her story "inspires" other women.
Megan Thee Stallion took the witness stand at a federal courthouse in Miami on Thursday in connection with a defamation lawsuit that the hip-hop star filed in October 2024 against Milagro Cooper, a social media commentator and blogger known as "Milagro Gramz."
Megan Thee Stallion, whose legal name is Megan Pete, testified that Cooper participated in a targeted and coordinated social media campaign to harass, intimidate and defame her, in concert with rapper Tory Lanez, who was convicted of shooting and injuring Pete in a July 2020 incident.
The lawsuit alleges that Cooper spread lies about Pete to punish her and attempt to discredit her after she publicly named the rapper as her shooter.
"She's created a space for a lot of people to come speak negatively about me," Pete said of Cooper, referencing social media posts where the blogger attacked Pete's character, casting her as a liar and mentally unstable.
"I felt like nobody cared that I was shot," Pete said. "I know everyone was making jokes about it."
The jury on Thursday was shown X-ray photos of Pete's feet with bullet fragments after the shooting.
Emotional moment
During an emotional moment on the stand, Pete said that the social media posts promoted by Cooper's accounts casting doubt about her story and attacking her character led her to experience severe emotional distress.
"There was a time that I genuinely didn't care if I lived or died," she said. "I felt like no way I mattered. No way I should even be living. I don't want to be here. I'm tired of waking up. I just wanted to die. I was so tired of being alive."
Asked how she was doing, Pete said that she was having an "OK" day as she testified because she got to tell her side of the story and said she hopes that something good comes out of it.
"Im not going to kill myself because I'm not going to give them what they're looking for," Pete said, recounting how she found a way to empower herself amid the firestorm.
She said she hopes telling her story "can inspire other women to want to tell their truth."
What blogger said on the stand
Cooper, who took the stand earlier this week, testified that as a blogger she discussed the shooting on her social media accounts without the influence of Tory Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson.
But Cooper did acknowledge that she spoke with Peterson and was hoping to have him as a guest on her channel. She also testified that she received payments from Peterson's father, Sonstar Peterson, but claimed they were for "personal" reasons like her children's birthdays and "promotional" work.
The jury was shown social media posts in which Cooper claimed that Pete was not shot.
When asked if she believed that Pete was shot, Cooper said, "I can't say she lied about that because I wasn't there," but then Cooper said that she believed that Pete was not shot and had stepped on glass -- a claim that Pete made in her initial statement to police.
Pete testified during Lanez's trial that she told police she stepped on glass because as a Black woman she feared police, particularly after the 2020 killing of George Floyd, and was trying to "protect" herself and her companions during the interaction by not disclosing that a gun was present. During her testimony on Thursday in the defamation case, Pete again repeated this explanation.
"Even though he hurt me, I still didn't want to see him arrested or shot by police," Pete said of Peterson.
Peterson is not named as a defendant in Pete' defamation lawsuit but was asked to give a deposition ahead of the trial. ABC News has reached out to his attorneys but requests for comment were not returned.
Claims of defamation 'an overreach,' blogger's attorneys say
The complaint, which was reviewed by ABC News, accuses Cooper of defamation, promoting an altered sexual depiction of Pete, cyberstalking and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Pete's lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount in "compensatory damages, punitive damages, statutory damages, attorney's fees, costs, interest, and all other damages as are just and proper as well as declaratory judgment to remedy Defendant's unlawful behavior."
Cooper denied wrongdoing in legal documents responding to the lawsuit. ABC News reached out to Cooper's attorneys, but requests for comment were not returned.
In a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Cooper's attorneys argued that "multiple allegations of 'defamation' are an overreach," and alleged that some statements made by Cooper are "substantially true," while others are "clearly opinion and/or rhetorical hyperbole and therefore not actionable as a matter of law."
Pete's complaint alleged that Cooper conspired with Peterson to "punish" Pete for testifying in Peterson's trial and naming his as her shooter.
Peterson, who chose not to take the witness stand during the 2022 trial, pleaded not guilty and his defense attorneys argued during the trial that he was not the shooter.
Tory Lanez shooting trial
Peterson was sentenced to 10 years in prison without the possibility of parole on Aug. 8, 2023 after he was convicted in December 2022 of felony assault for shooting and injuring Pete in both of her feet in an incident that occurred in the Hollywood Hills on July 12, 2020.
His legal team appealed his conviction but it was upheld on Nov. 12 by a federal court in Los Angeles.
Court records show that Peterson and his attorney were held in contempt of court by a magistrate judge earlier this week for failing to answer questions during a deposition related to Pete's lawsuit against Cooper. Peterson was ordered to pay a $20,000 fine.
"As a result of Mr. Peterson's deliberate evasion during three attempted depositions, and his attorney's coordinated scheme with him to object, obstruct, coach, and deny the opportunity for questioning at his third deposition, both Mr. Peterson and his attorney are hereby held in contempt of court," court documents said.
ABC News reached out to Peterson's attorney Crystal Morgan for comment.
The shooting and subsequent trial involving Peterson sparked intense debates over society's treatment of women. Pete's account of the incident -- and the intense public vitriol she faced after sharing her story -- has spotlighted the Protect Black Women movement, which addresses the two-front battle of sexism and racism Black women experience in their own communities and in society at large.
ABC News' Sabina Ghebremedhin contributed to this report.
Popular Reads
ABC News Live