Kelsey harris

In a bombshell recorded interview played in open court on Friday (Dec. 16), Kelsey Harris, Megan Thee Stallion‘s former friend and assistant, claimed several times that she saw Tory Lanez shoot the “Savage” rapper and then bribed her and Harris to keep quiet — contradicting her in-court testimony on Wednesday and Thursday.

Judge David Herriford allowed prosecutors to play the entire 80-minute recording in front of the jury on day five of the blockbuster trial, in which Lanez is charged, among other things, with shooting Megan in the foot on July 12, 2020. The interview — clips from which were previously played in court during Harris’ two-day stint on the witness stand — was conducted on Sept. 14, 2022, in the presence of Deputy District Attorneys Kathy Ta and Alexander Bott, senior investigator Jody Little and Harris’ husband Darien Smith, with Harris’ two attorneys present via phone.

In the recording, Harris could be heard telling prosecutors that an argument between Megan and Lanez that started during a get-together at Kylie Jenner’s house on the night of July 12, 2020, and escalated on the car ride home ended with Tory shooting at Megan five times from the passenger side window of the SUV being driven by Lanez’s security guard Jauquan Smith. “The way Tory was angling the gun was down … definitely in her direction,” recalled Harris, who also claimed Lanez threatened to “shoot” her prior to allegedly firing the gun at Megan later that night.

Harris — who befriended Megan in college before becoming her assistant in 2019 — went on to emotionally recount the immediate aftermath of the gunfire, describing how she “immediately” ran to Megan’s side to find “blood” on her friend. “So in my head, [Megan] had been shot,” she said.

According to Harris, Lanez then exited the vehicle and began walking towards Megan, at which point Harris said she put herself between them — leading Lanez to “physically assault” her with his hands. She then claimed that after leading Lanez back to the car to “distract” him from Megan, he “started pulling” her by her hair and neck. “That’s when I started fearing for my life,” she continued.

Harris, audibly crying at this point in the recording, then claimed that the violence de-escalated once Megan returned to the car. Once they got back in the vehicle and continued driving — with Megan’s bloody leg propped on her own — Harris said Megan then asked her to call Megan’s manager T. Farris. Harris additionally claimed that she sent a text message to Megan’s security guard Justin Edison that read, “Help. 911. Tory shot Meg,” as well as a Facebook message to her mother requesting help. “I was really hurt [emotionally],” Harris continued, adding, “I didn’t realize I had bruises [from the attack].”

Once police vehicles pulled over the car, Harris said Lanez quickly began bribing the two women. “Please y’all don’t say anything…. I’m about to sign a huge deal … I’ll give you guys $1 million each,” she claimed he told them. After police became involved — and Megan’s manager Farris arrived on the scene — Harris, Megan and Lanez were separated, with Megan going to the emergency room at Cedars-Sinai and Harris going to the police station, where photos of her with blood on her legs (shown in court on Wednesday) were taken.

Later on in the recording, Harris can be heard claiming that Lanez tried to bribe her again not long after the incident. After showing up at her hotel with Smith and another man, she said, Lanez apologized and asked Harris if she wanted to work for him, or for him to get her a lawyer. “[I didn’t know] if that was his way of trying to pay,” she added. She said that after telling Megan she had met with Lanez, the “WAP” rapper was critical, allegedly saying to Harris: “He’s just trying to play you.”

Harris’ interview with prosecutors in September was a far cry from her time on the stand. During her two days of court testimony, Harris acted evasive with prosecutors and defense attorneys and even recanted claims she made in September that Lanez had threatened to shoot her on July 12, stating that some of what she said wasn’t “accurate. There were some things I wasn’t truthful about to protect myself.” She did not go into greater detail about what she was protecting herself from, nor which parts of the interview were less than “100% truthful.”

During the September interview as well as her time in court, Harris stated that she has not seen Megan in person since the incident, noting that the last time they had contact was when Megan offered to pay for her housing in the aftermath of the incident. Harris also testified that Megan’s team cut off contact with her in the wake of the shooting. As she did in court, in the recording Harris could also be heard professing anger toward Megan, saying the rapper “never protected” her and even suggested that Harris took hush money from Lanez during an Instagram Live session. “I’m upset she didn’t clear my name,” she said.

On Tuesday, Megan testified that the fight that led up to the July 12 shooting derived in part from Lanez’s sexual relationships with both women as well as derogatory comments she made about the state of Lanez’s career. She claimed that after getting out of the car, “I started walking away and I hear Tory yell, ‘Dance, bi—!’” before being fired on by the singer. Though she initially denied to police officers that she’d been shot, in an Instagram post three days later (July 15, 2020) she confirmed that she’d been shot and had undergone surgery to remove the bullets. In an Instagram Live session on August 20, 2020, she named Lanez as her attacker.

Lanez currently faces three felony charges: 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 resumes Monday (Dec. 19).

UPDATE: This article was updated Dec. 16 at 9:00 p.m. EST to include additional details about Harris’ interaction with Megan after meeting with Lanez as well as her feelings about the way Megan treated her in the aftermath of the shooting.

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).

Megan Thee Stallion‘s former friend and assistant Kelsey Harris took the stand Wednesday (Dec. 14) on the third day of the highly publicized trial over whether Tory Lanez shot Megan in the foot on July 12, 2020.

During Harris’ testimony — which saw her become increasingly hesitant about answering Deputy District Attorney Kathy Ta‘s questions about what happened on the night in question — a recording from an interview she gave to Ta, Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott and an investigator in September 2022 was played in court to try to jog her memory. During a portion of that earlier interview, Harris could be heard claiming that Lanez had also threatened to shoot her on the car ride back from Kylie Jenner‘s house prior to the shooting. But in a surprising turn, Harris recanted that earlier testimony from the stand.

Earlier in the day, Harris arrived in court with her attorney Daniel A. Nardoni wearing a black blouse and slacks and carrying a black bejeweled Christian Louboutin bag. Before the jury arrived, Nardoni said his client planned to assert her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, leading Judge David Herriford to address her concern as “legitimate.” Prosecutors then offered her “use immunity” — meaning nothing derived from her testimony may be used against her in a criminal proceeding — before she was sworn in and took the stand.

Harris is a key witness because she was one of only two people present with Megan and the defendant at the time of the alleged shooting, aside from Lanez’s security guard Jauquan Smith. During opening statements earlier this week, Lanez’s lead attorney George Mgdesyan pushed the theory that Harris may have been the one who pulled the trigger instead of his client. The defense’s argument heavily relied on an account from another witness, Sean Kelly, whom the police interviewed shortly after the shooting because the SUV carrying Megan, Lanez, Harris and Smith had stopped near his house. Mgdesyan said Kelly saw Harris exit from the back seat of the car and open Megan’s front passenger door before witnessing “a fist fight between the girls” and seeing one of the women point a gun at the other.

During her time on the stand Tuesday, Megan explained to prosecutors that Harris was her “best friend since freshman year of college” who later became her assistant at the end of 2019. During cross-examination, the Grammy-winning rapper (real name Megan Pete) denied Harris was the shooter and told the defense it was their client Lanez (real name Daystar Peterson) who yelled, “Dance, bi—!” before allegedly pointing the gun and shooting her. Megan, 27, also revealed that she and Harris have not seen each other since the incident.

On Wednesday, Harris was initially composed but became increasingly reticent after Ta began interrogating her about her side of the story.

“I don’t want to be here today. It’s a triggering situation. I just don’t want to be here,” Harris told Ta at one point, echoing Megan’s own statements during her testimony the day prior. She also denounced the defense’s argument that she shot Megan, calling the accusation “ridiculous.”

For the duration of the hearing, Harris appeared distracted, consistently asking Ta to repeat her questions and “refresh [her] memory” by playing specific audio clips taken from the September 2022 interview. When asked again how she felt about being in court, Harris blamed “anxiety, post-partum, a death in the family…[and a] sick baby” as reasons why she was not mentally present in the courtroom. However, she told Ta that being in the same room as Lanez, who was wearing a light brown suit and black turtleneck with black velvet loafers, did not affect her ability to testify.

While describing the relationship between herself, Megan and Lanez — which she said started after the two women met Lanez at a Roc Nation brunch in 2020 — Harris claimed the “Luv” singer “was someone that Megan wanted me to pursue beyond a friendship” and that “there were a few nights we had been engaged,” confirming she had an intimate relationship with the singer. After returning from a trip to her hometown of Houston for a few months that year due to COVID, she said she realized that Megan and Lanez had grown closer during her time away.

Harris then began recounting what happened at Jenner’s house, insisting that it wasn’t a “party” but rather a small “gathering” with about six people. “A lot of alcohol had been involved,” said Harris, who said she had drunkenly passed out at Jenner’s home for a few hours before returning to the gathering, at which point only herself, Megan, Lanez, Jenner and Megan’s stylist EJ King — who had driven Megan and Harris to the party that night — remained. Harris described Megan as “drunk” and that “her behavior was a little off” and later said that Lanez was “just being Tory” and “flirting with Kylie” — an admission that caused the defendant to smirk from his seat.

According to Harris, after King convinced Megan to leave the house because her wig was falling off, the rapper argued that she wanted to leave with Lanez and had King move her and Harris’ bags from his car to Lanez’s car. She claimed that Lanez then told Smith to “just take them home” in an “adamant way” because he didn’t want to leave. Shortly after Smith, Lanez’s security guard, began driving the two women home, Megan insisted they all return to the house because she “had left a slipper.” Harris then recalled seeing Megan rush out the house with Lanez, saying, “Bi—, Kylie said we gotta get the f— out!” before the two hopped in the car with Harris and Smith.

Once Ta began interrogating Harris about what happened in the car, the witness became noticeably flustered. “Do I have to answer that?” she asked Judge Herriford, who nodded his head, prompting her to describe the arguments that ensued. “There was a lot of back and forth in the car,” she testified, later explaining how “upset” and “confused” she had felt when Lanez eventually told Harris that he and Megan were “having a relationship.” When prosecutors questioned whether Lanez called the two women “bi—es and h–s” — which the “Savage” MC claimed in court the day before — Harris couldn’t provide a direct response. It was then that Bott started playing bits of the September 2022 recording, which Judge Herriford informed the jury could not be considered as evidence.

After the portion of the recording was played where Harris claimed Lanez had threatened to shoot her, Ta pressed Harris about the validity of her claim. Harris then attempted to assert her Fifth Amendment right, only for Judge Herriford to tell her she first needed to discuss that with her attorney. After returning from an hour-and-a-half lunch recess, Harris went on to recant her prior statement that Lanez had threatened to shoot her, admitting parts of her September 2022 interview “weren’t accurate. There were some things I wasn’t truthful about to protect myself,” she testified. Over the course of her testimony, Harris never explained what she was protecting herself from, nor which parts of the interview were less than “100% truthful.”

Prosecutors went on to play more of the recorded interview, which revealed Harris stating that Lanez verbally threatened her by saying, “My n—a, I’ll shoot you” and then “reached” for something in the “center console” of the vehicle but “never opened it.”

In the midst of Harris’ testimony, Ta grew noticeably irritated with the witness, raising her voice as she questioned why she’d admitted to sending Justin Edison, Megan’s security guard, three texts that read “Help. Tory shot meg. 911” if she didn’t — as Harris testified — see Lanez shoot the rapper. “I was in a panic,” Harris responded. Ta then showed Harris a photo of herself, taken at the police station on the night of the shooting, that showed her with blood on her leg. Harris replied, “I don’t know whose blood that was.” She then testified that Megan had been bleeding — and had put her leg on Harris’ in the car following the shooting — but that she hadn’t known where the blood was coming from and remained uncertain of Megan’s injuries up to the point when she arrived at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where Megan was being treated. Ta then asked incredulously, “This is your best friend, right?”

Lanez, 30, currently faces three felony charges: 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.

Harris is due back in court Thursday (Dec. 15) to complete her testimony.