1501 Certified Entertainment CEO Carl Crawford has shared his reaction to Tory Lanez‘s guilty verdict in relation to the 2020 shooting of Megan Thee Stallion.
Meg’s estranged label boss took to Instagram Live on Friday night (December 23), after a grand jury found Lanez guilty of all three charges levied against him in connection to her shooting and injury. In a clip of the Live session, Crawford seemingly responded to a commenter taunting him about his own ongoing legal battle with his one-time protégé.
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“I knew they was gonna say that: I’m next,” he said laughing. “Aye bro, look: I hope I’m next ’cause, shit, it’s been four years. Man! That shit crazy. Damn, that shit wild than a muthafucka.”
Later in the clip, the former Major League Baseball player vocalized his disbelief at the amount of time he expects Tory Lanez to be sentenced to and the timing of the verdict.
“A Black man finna go to jail for about 15-20 years, two days before Christmas,” Carl Crawford said. “God damn! That’s a cold one right there. That’s cold blooded. Now if a Black man don’t feel that shit, I mean… that’s cold. Every n-gga I done called, we done all had the same reaction. I’ma just sit and let this one sit.
“His kids sick, his parents, grandmama sick, everybody sick,” he continued. “I saw his daddy talking out in front of the courthouse, that shit was coming from the pit! You see I’m lost for words myself. He won’t get to see his son for a long time. The whole thing just feel like some all around sinister shit. That shit just seem scary almost, I ain’t gon’ even much lie.”
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The jury’s verdict came after eight days of trial, nearly two days of closing arguments and a day of deliberations. Tory Lanez was convicted of felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm, possession of a concealed, unregistered firearm and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
He had pleaded not guilty to all counts and opted not to testify during the trial. The singer (real name Daystar Peterson) now faces up to 22 years in prison and deportation to his native Canada.
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While she remains signed to 1501 Certified Entertainment, Megan Thee Stallion has had recurring issues with Carl Crawford and the label over the years, taking to Instagram in 2020 to ridicule them for not allowing her to release new music and for refusing to renegotiate her contract. She then sued them later later that year, demanding her contract be terminated.
A judge granted her a temporary restraining order so she could release her project Suga, but she sued 1501 again in 2021 after they tried to prevent the release of her featured verse on BTS’s “Butter” remix. A judge granted her an injunction so the track could be released.
Following the release of her second studio album Traumazine, Megan Thee Stallion amended a new lawsuit against 1501 Certified Ent. label and requested that a Texas judge rule the LP to be the final obligation to satisfy her deal with 1501 and free her from her tumultuous relationship with the label and Carl Crawford.
The legal drama between Megan Thee Stallion and 1501 Certified Entertainment took another turn in November, when the Houston rapper (real name Megan Pete) was granted a restraining order against the label, along with her distributor 300 Entertainment, over claims they took steps “to block or interfere with Pete exploiting, licensing, or publishing her music” in the run-up to the American Music Awards.
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According to Rolling Stone, 1501 Certified Entertainment’s legal representative Steven Zager has stated that the civil case between his client and Megan Thee Stallion will likely not go to court until Summer 2023.
