Tory Lanez trial: Fake reports suggest rapper declared not guilty even as jury deliberates his fate

After nine days of trial, the jury began deliberation on allegations against Canadian rapper Tory Lanez of shooting Megan Thee Stallion in Los Angeles on Thursday.

However, some of the fake reports started circulating online, suggesting that Lanez had already been declared not guilty by the jury. People took to social media to condemn these fake reports. 

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“A gossip blog reported (in a now deleted tweet) that Tory Lanez was found Not Guilty and now it’s trending and other accounts are running with it, but the jury is still deliberating. That’s why misinformation floats around now, because blogs dying to be first with ‘the tea,'” an angry Twitter user wrote. 

One more said, “The jury started deliberating 5 minutes ago & y’all tb some “he was found not guilty” i need y’all to be serious.” Another tweeted, “Blogs tweeting that tory lanez is not guilty even though the jury haven’t deliberated yet. This why no ones takes y’all seriously.”

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One of the reasons some entertainment blogs could have mistakenly called it early was a jury sample verdict form that was being circulated to media outlets. The jury will be using the form to make their decision. It was being cited by the blogs as alleged proof of Tory’s guilt or innocence. However, TMZ, which also acquired the form, confirmed that the jury has not yet made a decision, and that document is only a guide.  

During the trial, the Grammy-winning artist testified that on the night of July 12, 2020, she had gotten out of a car following an argument with Lanez. As she walked away, she turned and saw him with a gun. 

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He was holding the gun pointing at me,” she said and claimed that he said “dance b—-” and fired his gun, injuring her feet. “I froze … I felt shocked. I wasn’t really sure if this was happening … I looked at the ground and saw the blood … everyone was shocked.”

Wednesday afternoon saw closing arguments from the prosecution. Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott made one last effort to convince jurors that Lanez shot Megan and that the case is simply about “a guy who shot a girl, then apologized for it.”   

The defense said in closing argument that Kelsey Harris was the one who pulled the trigger and Lanez was trying to save the day in the aftermath of the shooting. They also suggested Megan was lying in her testimony because they’re both artists and she wanted to one-up Lanez in the music industry.