Maintaining his innocence. Tory Lanez pleaded not guilty on Wednesday, November 18, to charges related to the shooting of Megan Thee Stallion earlier this year.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Lanez’s “not guilty” plea on Wednesday, after he was arraigned. He is due back in court on January 20, the district attorney’s office said in a Twitter statement.
The “Jokes on Me” rapper, 28, was charged in the shooting of the “WAP” singer, 25, last month after an incident in the Hollywood Hills in July.
The DA’s office announced in October that the Canadian rapper had been charged 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.”
If convicted, Lanez (real name Daystar Peterson) could face a maximum sentence of 22 years and eight months in a state prison.
Megan (real name Megan Pete) accused Lanez of being her shooter during an Instagram Live in August.
“Yes … Tory shot me,” the “Savage” MC alleged at the time. “You shot me, and you got your publicist and your people going to these blogs lying and s–t. Stop lying. Why lie? I don’t understand.”
The Texas native was transported to a Los Angeles-area hospital on July 12 after sustaining gunshot wounds on both feet. The “Hot Girl Summer” singer was with Lanez at the time of the incident and he was arrested at the time on a felony gun charge. He was released later that day after posting bail.
Megan detailed the terrifying shooting one week after she had surgery, telling her fans she is “incredibly grateful to be alive” after the traumatic ordeal.
“I was shot in both of my feet and I had to get surgery to get the s—t taken out, to get the bullets taken out,” she said via Instagram Live on July 27. “It was super scary. It was the worst experience of my life and it’s not funny.”
The “Girls in the Hood” artist noted that she “didn’t put my hands on nobody. I didn’t deserve to get shot. I didn’t do s—t” before saying that her family “had to be looking out for me” since the bullets missed her bones and tendons.