Megan Thee Stallion is suing commentator Milagro Gramz, accusing her of being a “mouthpiece,” “puppet” and “paid surrogate” for rapper Tory Lanez during and after his high-profile criminal trial.
In a lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Florida on Wednesday, attorneys for Megan Thee Stallion accuse Milagro Gramz of “churning out falsehoods” about Lanez while the hip-hop superstar was on trial in 2022 and 2023. Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, was found guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion, real name Megan Pete, in the foot and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Milagro Gramz, whose real name is Milagro Cooper, sought to “denigrate, belittle, insult, and spread false statements about Ms. Pete on her online social media platforms, for no other reason than to bully, harass and punish Ms. Pete for Mr. Peterson’s conviction and to tarnish her reputation, causing emotional distress,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit alleges that Cooper shared misinformation about the criminal trial, including claims that Pete had not been shot and that she had a drinking problem.
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Cooper is also accused of encouraging her thousands of followers on X and Instagram to view an unauthorized, sexually explicit deepfake video of Pete that was circulated on social media in June. The lawsuit does not accuse Cooper of creating or posting the video, but suggests she “willfully and maliciously promoted” it to her followers by pointing them to a post that had directly shared it.
“I’ve endured countless attacks on my character based on false narratives from social media bloggers misrepresenting themselves as journalists,” Pete said in a statement. “It’s unacceptable behavior and these individuals need to understand there will be repercussions for recklessly posting lies and defamatory falsehoods.”
Pete is suing for promotion of an altered sexual depiction, cyberstalking, intentional infliction of emotional distress and false light invasion of privacy, according to the suit.
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If Cooper is found liable of promoting an altered sexual depiction of Pete, the rapper is entitled to $10,000 or the actual amount of damages incurred, according to Florida law. Pete is requesting an injunction to restrict Cooper from engaging in cyberstalking. She is also seeking damages from Cooper “in an appropriate amount” for the emotional distress and false light counts.
Cooper did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Cooper said she had been “informed” about the suit, quoting a letter from Pete’s attorney and writing: “Of course we’ll chat about it. They threw in the tape too.” She also posted “Countersuit gone go crazy,” seemingly in reference to Pete’s lawsuit.
Cooper was one of several commentators who covered Peterson’s trial, during which she spread theories that attempted to discredit Pete’s account of the shooting. The lawsuit alleged that Cooper spread false information that the gun Peterson used to shoot Pete had gone missing as recently as this week. Other commentators were also accused of spreading unverified rumors during the trial.
“On my end, everything is not going to be something that was intended to be a factual statement,” Cooper told NBC News during the trial in December 2022. “It might have a comedic effect.”
Cooper also said she was not attempting to “tear anyone down” and that she had prayed for Pete and those who have gone through “what she’s alleging.”
There is precedent for rappers suing commentators over false information. Cardi B sued YouTuber Tasha K for defamation in 2019 after the vlogger claimed the rapper was a prostitute, had herpes and took various drugs.
Cardi B was awarded $4 million after an Atlanta jury found Tasha K liable for defaming her in 2022. Tasha K attempted to appeal the decision, but her appeal was rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in March 2023.
This story first appeared on NBCNews.com. More from NBC News:
