Joe Budden has declared that he does not believe Tory Lanez shot Megan Thee Stallion, even claiming that there was a conspiracy to frame the incarcerated rapper.
Budden made the wild and unsubstantiated claims on his self-titled podcast, where he explained his skepticism of Megan’s allegation that Lanez fired multiple shots at her feet during a drunken dispute also involving her friend Kelsey Harris in July 2020.
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“All of them involved have reason to lie, so I’m not really going with, who do I trust more? I’m just going with… n-gga thoughts,” he said.
“What is more likely? Tory leaves the studio, goes to Kylie Jenner’s house, is having a blast, thinking he’s about to get the foursome popping off. Meg gets jealous — we know how they got in the car. What is more likely? That Tory was so angered in that car that he took Kelsey’s gun and shot her?”
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Budden then claimed it’s more likely that Harris, not Tory, shot Megan.
“Listen, we know whose gun it was,” he continued. “So he took her gun and shot [Megan]. Why? Why was he so mad […] Y’all think a man is just shooting a girl for no reason? Give me a reason! ‘Cause the only reason we got was, ‘I [Megan] said that I have more number ones than him.’
“Or what’s more believable? Two people that was running around as best friends, new in the music industry, one gets COVID, comes back, finds out her best friend is fucking the n-gga that she’s fucking on. And this n-gga was just about to get some Kylie Jenner ass […] That guy is shooting? No, that guy wants to go back!”
Joe Budden breaks down what he thinks happened between Meg and Tory. He also states he knows knows who’s gun it was and who really shot Meg. pic.twitter.com/idY0XmjFtm
— 🌺SolecialNetwork 🛡 (@SocialNetwork67) July 31, 2024
The former Slaughterhouse rapper went on to suggest that there was a wider conspiracy involving powerful figures to set Tory Lanez up, and that Megan Thee Stallion was merely a “pawn.”
“I think it’s above her. I don’t think she made it up. She’s a mere pawn in this,” he said. This play is greater than her. She didn’t make nothing up. I ain’t gonna say who I think made it up… but it wasn’t her. N-ggas out there know who it is. I know exactly who it is, I know how that gun got there, I know whose gun it was.”
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Budden also exposed a private conversation with Harris, saying: “I thought it was weird that the last time we talked about this shit, Kelsey jumped into my DMs talking about, ‘Aye, don’t talk about this no more.’ Why? You got immunity. It’s odd.”
Harris later appeared to respond to the segment on X (formerly Twitter), writing: “It’s easy to get lost in the media, but let’s remember MY NAME was cleared by both parties involved. Stay tuned.”
It’s easy to get lost in the media , but let’s remember MY NAME was cleared by both parties involved. Stay tuned .
— KELSEY NICOLE ✨ (@itskelseynicol3) August 1, 2024
Joe Budden has been outspoken in his dislike of Megan Thee Stallion for a while now, and has repeatedly cast doubt on her assertion that Tory Lanez shot her.
During a 2022 episode of his podcast, he said: “I got some theories. But what I can say is I’m finished with these n-ggas and I don’t like that girl. I can’t.
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“Personally, I’ve seen this woman do horrible things to some really great people that I have longstanding relationship with here in this industry, so I’m biased. You can’t just treat my friends and people I fuck with and people I’ve seen in this game for 15 years a certain way.”
The rapper turned podcaster later apologized to Megan, saying: “The people that love her, her handlers, her team, the people that have to support her through what has to be an exhausting trial, I listened back. I got a few phone calls from women that I love and appreciate and admire.”
He added: “I’m apologizing for the careless manner in which I joked about her mental health […] That’s not funny, because whether you believe her or don’t believe her, can you afford to be wrong? The answer is no.”
Tory Lanez’s appeal against his conviction and 10-year prison sentence suffered a setback earlier this week after California’s Attorney General’s Office ruled that a statement made by his driver Jauquan Smith could not be classified as new evidence as his legal team were already aware of the information.
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Smith claimed in an affidavit last year that he saw Harris holding a gun before the shooting, but did not testify at the December 2022 trial.
Megan herself has insisted that Harris was not the shooter.
