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Megan Thee Stallion accepts the award for top rap female artist at the Billboard Music Awards on May 15, 2022. (AP) Megan Thee Stallion accepts the award for top rap female artist at the Billboard Music Awards on May 15, 2022. (AP)

Megan Thee Stallion accepts the award for top rap female artist at the Billboard Music Awards on May 15, 2022. (AP)

Monique Curet
By Monique Curet May 16, 2022

Social media users wrong to suggest Megan Thee Stallion wasn’t shot

If Your Time is short

Megan Thee Stallion initially told police and doctors her injury was caused by broken glass; later she recanted that explanation. 

A medical report from the day Megan was shot shows that there are bullet fragments in her foot, media outlets reported.

Police charged Tory Lanez with assault with a semi-automatic firearm in connection with the shooting, and prosecutors have said they believe the evidence substantially supports the charges.

 

Social media continues to be a source of misinformation about a high-profile case where one rapper is charged with shooting another.

On May 11, multiple Facebook users shared the same image post that suggests Megan Thee Stallion was not shot, but had stepped on glass.

"Dr. Loffredo, who treated Megan Thee Stallion, confirmed her foot was wounded due to her stepping on glass," says the Facebook post. It includes photos of Megan and Tory Lanez, who is charged with shooting Megan in 2020.

The posts were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

The information appears to have originated with a police report allegedly from the Los Angeles Police Department, published this month by celebrity news site Mob Radio. The LAPD did not respond to our email inquiring whether the police report is authentic.

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The screenshot of the police report says after a July 2020 altercation, Megan — identified in the report by her real last name, Pete — "was transported to Cedars Sinai and was treated by Dr. Loffredo for lacerations to her left foot. Dr. Loffredo confirmed laceration due to stepping on glass."

Dr. Anthony Loffredo is an emergency medicine doctor at Cedars-Sinai, according to the hospital’s website. We did not find any public statements from Loffredo about the case.

But the information in that report is consistent with what Megan has said publicly about the timeline of events. On the day of the altercation, Megan told police and doctors that her injury came from stepping on broken glass, according to reports from a December 2021 hearing in the case.

She later said she had been shot, and a more detailed medical report from the day of the altercation shows that there are bullet fragments in her foot, CBS and Page Six reported.

Lanez is charged with assault with a semi-automatic firearm in connection with the shooting, and prosecutors have said they believe the evidence substantially supports the charges.

The shooting has been the source of conflicting information from the start.

In July 2020, Megan attended a party with Lanez, and later that night, Megan was shot. Initially, Los Angeles police did not name a suspect, explain Megan’s injuries in detail or confirm whether the injuries were gunshot wounds, The New York Times reported in July 2020.

In October 2020, Lanez was charged in connection with the shooting.

Megan explained in an April 2022 interview with Gayle King that she first told police she stepped on glass because she was worried after the murder of George Floyd what the police might do if they found out someone had a gun. 

"Surveillance footage of the arrest shows Lanez, the unidentified woman, and later Megan lying spread-eagled on the ground near the vehicle, surrounded by multiple police cars with a helicopter hovering overhead," NBC News reported in October 2020.

It’s not the first time false information has circulated on social media in an attempt to cast doubt on Megan’s account. In February, we debunked a claim that it had been revealed in court that Lanez’ DNA was not found on the weapon.

Our ruling

Facebook posts suggest Megan Thee Stallion was not a shooting victim but had stepped on glass.

Megan initially told police and doctors her injury was caused by broken glass, and a document alleged to be the police report reflects that. A more detailed medical report from the day Megan was shot shows that there are bullet fragments in her foot.

Police charged Lanez with assault with a semi-automatic firearm in connection with the shooting, and prosecutors have said they believe the evidence substantially supports the charges.

We rate this claim False. 

 

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Social media users wrong to suggest Megan Thee Stallion wasn’t shot

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