Megan Thee Stallion’s Ex-Assistant Denies Tory Lanez Threatened or Bribed Her on Day 4 of Trial

Kelsey Harris, Megan Thee Stallion‘s former friend and assistant, returned to court Thursday (Dec. 15) to complete her testimony on the fourth day of the high-profile trial over whether Tory Lanez shot Megan in the foot on July 12, 2020 — and like on Wednesday, the witness raised the ire of attorneys on both sides of the case with incomplete and often contradictory testimony.

During Harris’ previous turn on the stand on Wednesday, Megan’s former friend and assistant failed to recall much of a September 2022 interview she did with Deputy District Attorneys Kathy Ta and Alexander Bott and another investigator. Ultimately, she testified that parts of that interview, during which she gave a detailed account of what happened the night of the shooting more than two years prior, “weren’t accurate,” marking one of the day’s most surprising turns.

After grilling Harris on Wednesday about her contention that she hadn’t seen Lanez shoot Megan on the night of the incident, prosecutor Ta tried again, asking Harris directly if Megan had been shot. “Her team told me she stepped on glass,” replied Harris, who wore a black mock turtleneck dress and black stilettos with the same updo she wore the day prior. Ta then followed up with an even more direct question — “Who shot Meg?” — leading Harris to reply, “I don’t know.”

Harris and Megan’s now-estranged friendship has been one of the focal points of the closely-watched trial, and its dissolution following the shooting was covered extensively during both days of Harris’ testimony. On day 1, Harris (who became the Grammy-winning rapper’s assistant in 2019) described the origins of the Los Angeles chapter of their friendship, noting that she left her native Houston in 2020 to live with Megan in an Airbnb in Los Angeles. But in the wake of the shooting, she said she became “confused” when Megan’s team booked her a flight back to Texas. “I was in a hotel for about two weeks,” she explained. “I made a point that I had nowhere to go.” Megan then set her up with a new living situation, Harris said, noting it was the only time they’d been in contact since the incident. Harris testified on Thursday that the two women haven’t seen each other in person since the night of the shooting, something Megan also confirmed during her previous testimony.

Also on Thursday, Harris testified she was the subject of “harassment” following Megan’s July 15, 2020, Instagram post — just three days after the shooting — in which the “Savage” rapper wrote that she’d “suffered gunshot wounds, as a result of a crime that was committed against me and done with the intention to physically harm me.” Harris claimed that the harassment came about because Megan suggested that Harris “took hush money” from Lanez.

“I believe she needs to be held accountable for spreading false information,” Harris said.

During Thursday’s testimony, Ta continued to press Harris on whether Lanez had threatened her or paid her money prior to the trial, leading Harris to visibly shrink in her seat. This line of questioning drew a reaction from the “Luv” singer, dressed in a burgundy suit and black turtleneck with black velvet loafers, who rubbed his goatee and leaned in as Ta grilled Harris.

On this point — whether Lanez either intimidated or paid her off — Harris was inconsistent. At one point during cross-examination by Lanez’s lead attorney George Mgdesyan, Harris said forcefully, “I would like to make [it] very clear” that Lanez never bribed nor threatened her. However, when Mgdesyan later asked, “Did my client offer you $1 million?”, Harris replied, “I can’t remember.”

“Are you being truthful right now?” Mgdesyan responded.

“Yes,” said Harris.

What did become clear during Mgdesyan’s cross-examination was that Harris didn’t fully understand the scope of her “use immunity” — meaning nothing derived from her testimony may be used against her in a criminal proceeding — that was offered to her by prosecutors ahead of her testimony on Wednesday. When the defense questioned whether she genuinely understood that, even with use immunity, she could face serious legal consequences if she perjured herself in court, Harris took a break, stepping out into the hallway with her attorney David A. Nardoni to discuss the issue.

Throughout Harris’ testimony on Thursday, defense attorneys grew visibly annoyed at her failure to recall much of the night of the shooting incident, with the witness continuously blaming the alcohol she consumed at Kylie Jenner‘s house — where she, Megan and Lanez had been hanging out prior to the shooting — for her fuzzy memory. When asked if she had ever heard anyone shout, “Dance, bi—!” — a phrase Megan says Lanez yelled at her just before shooting her in the foot — Harris replied, “I don’t know where that came from, so no.”

During the prosecutors’ redirect, Harris also claimed to be unfamiliar with an alleged text exchange between her and Megan, screenshots of which were shown in court. In that exchange, someone asks the other if they should go to urgent care. “My chest is hurting / pressure I have a heart murmur idk it’s being triggered. My left side, back and neck hurt But that’s from the fighting and him dragging me out the car by my hair,” the messages read. When Ta asked Harris if she had sent these texts to Megan, Harris replied, “I don’t believe [so].”

One line Harris did confirm came from her was the phrase, “I’m taking shots at you bi—, I’m busting you!” That’s a lyric from Harris’ song “Bussin Back” (released under her performing name Kelsey Nicole), recited by Mgdesyan during his re-cross examination. Harris answered that the song was a response to Megan’s own diss track (“Shots Fired”), before smirking, “I’m sure you’re aware of how rap lyrics go.”

Notably, the controversial practice of using rap lyrics in court has grown more common over the years, most prominently with Young Thug and Gunna‘s indictment in a sweeping criminal case from May that heavily cited their own lyrics. In September 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a first-in-the-nation statute that aims to restrict when prosecutors can cite rap lyrics as criminal evidence against the artists who wrote them — though since Harris is not being prosecuted in the case given her “use immunity,” Mgdesyan’s citation of her lyrics cannot be used against her in court.

Lanez faces three felony charges in the case: assault with a semiautomatic firearm; carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle; and discharging a firearm with gross negligence, the latter of which was added to the list of charges ahead of the trial last week. If convicted on all three counts, he faces 22 years in prison.

The trial will resume Friday (Dec. 16).

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