Megan Thee Stallion testifies about alleged shooting in Tory Lanez trial: “I felt shocked”

ABC News

Megan Thee Stallion took the witness stand in a Los Angeles courtroom on Tuesday, where the hip-hop star recounted the events that led up to the night when she was allegedly shot and injured by rapper Tory Lanez in the Hollywood Hills.

The Grammy-winning artist, whose birth name is Megan Pete, testified that on the night of July 12, 2020, she got out of a car following an argument with Lanez and as she walked away, she turned her head and saw him with a gun, according to a reporter with Los Angeles ABC station KABC, who was in the courtroom.

“He was holding the gun pointing at me,” Megan said, and claimed that he said “dance b****” and fired his gun, injuring both her feet.

“I froze…I felt shocked,” she said. “I wasn’t really sure if this was happening…I looked at the ground and saw the blood…everyone was shocked.”

Megan also alleged that Lanez offered her money to stay quiet, claiming that he apologized to her as police arrived on the scene and said, “Please don’t say anything, I’ll give you $1 million.”

Lanez’s attorneys did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment following Megan’s testimony.

Lanez, born Daystar Peterson, was initially charged in October 2020 with one felony count each of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle, according to charging documents obtained by ABC News.

Lanez was charged last week with an additional felony count of discharging a firearm with gross negligence, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office confirmed to ABC News.

Lanez pleaded not guilty to all three felony counts in the case.

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‘Barmageddon,’ ‘Big Sky’ and more country-centric TV shows for your viewing pleasure

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Sure, everybody knows The Voice and American Idol — but there’s a whole lot more music-themed television out there, with new shows premiering all the time.

Specifically, country music features prominently in a number of hit TV series. For classic reality competition with a strong country hook, Blake Shelton delivers his signature goofy charm and good-natured ribbing in Barmageddon, a new USA Network series that pits celebrities against each other for a round of bar games at Blake’s very own Nashville hot spot, Ole Red.

But if you’re looking for drama, country music-centric TV is hotter than ever in that department, too. The new season of Yellowstone features a character arc from Lainey Wilson, and its Paramount+ prequel, 1883, features starring performances from Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.

Then there’s FOX’s Monarch, starring Trace Adkins, which has a soundtrack packed full of country classics, and features appearances from the likes of Tanya Tucker and Little Big Town. The show will not return for a second season, but episodes from the first season are still airing every Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET.

Reba McEntire fans already know that the country star has got serious acting chops — her beloved, self-titled mid-2000s sitcom is proof of that — and now you can see her take on a darker role as Sunny Barnes in the ABC drama Big Sky. The show airs on Wednesday nights.

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Lee Brice is hitching rides with Santa, planning on a Christmas album

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Lee Brice‘s latest contribution to the Christmas canon is the unexpected “Santa Claus Was My Uber Driver,” which happens to be based on real life. And the “Memory I Don’t Mess With” hitmaker hints there may be more to come.

“I’m gonna go make a whole gospel record one day. I’m gonna make a whole acoustic record one day,” Lee says. “You know, I wanna make a Christmas record one day, but I want to do it kinda how I want to do it.”

“I want to write songs that I love, and that are fun and unique,” he continues. “And, I mean, do some classics possibly too, right? You know, just my own version of ’em.”

The South Carolina native’s last studio album, Hey World, came out in 2020. Although a yuletide offering is on his bucket list, Lee expects it’ll take him awhile. 

“I just dig a little deep and a little hard, and it takes me a little longer to be satisfied with the music I’m gonna put out,” he says. “So it’s a little harder for me to, you know, get a whole album done of just something like that.”

“But for now, it’s just gonna be, like, ‘Here’s a song this year.’ You know, maybe we’ll get another one next year or something,” he predicts.

Lee put out his version of the classic “Go Tell It on the Mountain” two years ago. 

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The Beach Boys thought about changing their name in the ’70s

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The Beach Boys recently released the new six-CD box set Sail on Sailor -1972, which focuses on their early ’70s releases, Carl and the Passions and Holland. At the time, the band was moving away from their customary sound and image to blend in more with the music of the day. They were so committed to the new direction they actually contemplated a name change.

“At that time, we felt we needed to get away from the California culture and just start over,” Al Jardine tells Variety. “We were in the process of even changing our name. I had an idea to call ourselves ‘the Beach,’ you know? Take the ‘Boys’ out, because we were branded with that.”

He adds that the band was in the midst of an “identity crisis” and were questioning, “Who are they? What is this all about? This is another direction.” 

They of course opted against the name change.

Sail on Sailor – 1972, which can be ordered here, contains newly remastered versions of both albums, along with 80 previously unreleased recordings, including unreleased outtakes, alternate versions and mixes and isolated backing tracks.

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Red Hot Chili Papa? Ghost’s Tobias Forge picks which band he’d want to play in

ABC

If Tobias Forge didn’t front Ghost as the demonic Papa Emeritus and could be part of any band in history, which band would he pick?

Classic Rock magazine poses that very question in a new interview with Forge, who chooses two groups: The Rolling Stones and Red Hot Chili Peppers.

“I would have loved to be what Mick Taylor was in 1969, coming into The Rolling Stones at their best era — but I would have stayed around!” Forge shares. “That would have been a great experience. Very fun music to play. Definitely within the limits of what I can play really well. I spent a lot of time as a kid learning how to play guitar.”

As for the Peppers, Forge says, “I love what John Frusciante does.”

In this reality, though, Forge will continue to lead Ghost, who released new album Impera earlier this year. The record won Favorite Rock Album at the 2022 American Music Awards, and the single “Call Me Little Sunshine” is up for Best Metal Performance at the 2023 Grammys.

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Pixies plan US tour dates for 2023

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Pixies have announced a U.S. tour for 2023.

The headlining run will begin May 4 in Oakland, California, and wrap up May 13 in Las Vegas. Tickets go on sale this Friday, December 16, at 10 a.m. local time.

For the full list of dates and all ticket info, visit PixiesMusic.com.

Pixies will be touring in support of their new album, Doggerel, which was released in September.

You can also catch Pixies play the 2023 Kilby Block Party festival in Salt Lake City, Utah, in May. The lineup also includes The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Pavement.

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Music notes: Adele, Pink, Jewel, the Jonas Brothers and Camila Cabello

You might catch Adele on a nature walk. Daily Mail reports she told the audience during her Vegas residency, “I’ve started hiking. I really like it. I put my headphones on and get on with it.” She also joked walking around a big theater is a workout.

Pink released the Sam Feldt remix of her new song, “Never Gonna Not Dance Again,” which transforms the disco song to a bass-heavy clubhouse rave.

Jewel is none too happy with the animal a TikTok randomizer claims she represents most — a goldfish. She shared the video and her disappointed reaction before pretending to be a sad goldfish. “Well that went right down the toilet…,” she captioned the video.

The Jonas Brothers are thrilled to be heading back to Las Vegas for another encore of their residency in February, but they teased on Instagram that fans need to buckle up for a busy year. They cryptically posted, “3 more Vegas shows is just the beginning… 2023 is going to be a fun one!”

Camila Cabello got her goth on and jumped on the “Wednesday Dance” craze on TikTok. She dressed in all black and danced alongside her Voice finalist Morgan Myles, who could be voted this year’s champion during Tuesday night’s season finale.

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Music notes: Lizzo, Adele, Selena Gomez, Pink, the Jonas Brothers, Camila Cabello and more

Lizzo says she turns to Adele for industry advice because, as she told Howard Stern, “She’s literally me in a different font.” As for whether they will ever collaborate, Lizzo says, “We’ve never talked about that,” but said she “would play flute with Adele” if Adele ever asked.

Speaking of Adele, you might catch her on a nature walk. Daily Mail reports she told the audience during her Vegas residency, “I’ve started hiking. I really like it. I put my headphones on and get on with it.” 

Selena Gomez celebrated her Golden Globe nomination by sharing a throwback video to TikTok of her younger self dreaming of being nominated for a Grammy. “I think it would be an honor, of course, but I’m more of a Golden Globe or Oscar girl,” she had said. Selena wrote, “Dreams do come true!!” She’s up for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy for Only Murders in the Building.

Pink released the Sam Feldt remix of her new song, “Never Gonna Not Dance Again,” which transforms the disco song to a bass-heavy clubhouse rave.

The Jonas Brothers are thrilled to be heading back to Las Vegas for another encore of their residency in February and teased on Instagram, “3 more Vegas shows is just the beginning… 2023 is going to be a fun one!”

Camila Cabello got her goth on and jumped on the “Wednesday Dance” craze on TikTok. She danced alongside her Voice finalist Morgan Myles, who could be voted this year’s champion during Tuesday night’s season finale.

Sabrina Carpenter launches a new, 36-date Emails I Can’t Send tour in March, with tickets going on sale Thursday, December 15, on her website. She’ll also perform on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on January 4.

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Lineup for Maryland’s M3 Rock Festival revealed

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The annual M3 Rock Festival is out with the lineup for their 14th edition, and they’ve landed some heavy hitters. 

The festival, set for May 6th and 7th at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD, opens with Styx, Extreme, Winger, Slaughter, Lita Ford and Quiet Riot on Saturday, with Warrant, Great White, Loudness, former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler, FireHouse, Riley’s L.A. Guns, Vixen, White Lion’s Mike Tramp, and Maryland’s own KIX wrapping the weekend on Sunday.

Two-day tickets and VIP packages go on sale Friday at 12 p.m. ET via Ticketmaster and at the 9:30 Club, The Anthem and Lincoln Theatre box office. The Merriweather Post Pavilion box office will begin selling tickets Monday at 10 a.m. Single-day tickets will go on sale at a later date.

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Cyndi Lauper makes surprise appearance, performs at Respect for Marriage Act signing

ABC

Cyndi Lauper made a trip to Washington, D.C., Tuesday to thank President Joe Biden for his support of the Respect for Marriage Act.

ABC News reports that ahead of the signing ceremony, Lauper surprised the press in the White House briefing room, with White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre introducing her by joking, “I know we have some serious business ahead of us today, but, you know, sometimes girls just want to have fun,” referring to one of Cyndi’s biggest hits. 

“I came here because I wanted to say thank you to President Biden, Speaker Pelosi, Vice President Harris and all the advocates and his team for all families — mine and a lot of my friends and people you know,” Lauper told reporters. “We can rest easy tonight because our families are validated, and because now we’re allowed to love who we love.”

Lauper also performed at the signing ceremony, treating those gathered to her classic song “True Colors,” introducing it by saying, “Well this time love wins.” Sam Smith was also on hand to perform their hit track “Stay With Me.”

Biden signed the bill into law Tuesday afternoon. It repeals the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibited federal recognition of same-sex marriages.

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