\n<\/p>\n
\n\tTory Lanez has been ordered to cover Megan Thee Stallion\u2019s legal fees after he was combative and feigned ignorance of basic facts during a videotaped deposition last April linked to the \u201cSavage\u201d singer\u2019s defamation and cyberstalking lawsuit against YouTube blogger Milagro Gramz.<\/p>\n
\n\tA federal judge issued the sanctions ruling Friday, saying Lanez, born Daystar Peterson, must pay Megan\u2019s \u201creasonable attorney\u2019s fees incurred in taking [his] deposition.\u201d The judge further ruled that a court-ordered, follow-up attempt to take Peterson\u2019s deposition would be supervised by a magistrate judge.<\/p>\n
\n\tAt the April 9 deposition, with Peterson appearing by video from prison, the rapper repeatedly interrupted the attorney who was conducting the exam on behalf of the Grammy-winning rapper, born Megan Pete. Peterson accused the lawyer of planning to leak the video \u201cto fake some sort of narrative.\u201d He also deflected questions by asking for the definitions of words including \u201cdiscuss\u201d and \u201capprove.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAsked at one point if he agreed that Megan Thee Stallion and Megan Pete are the same person, Peterson was evasive. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of Ms. Petes in this world. Which Ms. Pete are you talking about?\u201d he replied. At one point, he instructed his lawyer to \u201cGoogle how many Megan Petes there are in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tShortly after the disastrous exam ran off the rails, Pete\u2019s lawyers asked that Lanez be held in contempt. In a filing, they said his demeanor was \u201cso disruptive, inflammatory, and inconsistent with the basic norms of civil litigation\u201d that it \u201cmade a mockery of the proceedings.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile granting the legal fees for the April exam, the judge\u2019s new ruling did not go as far as Pete wanted. Her lawyers had asked that Peterson be forced to pay for the follow-up exam as well.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe April deposition marked the first time Peterson was forced to answer questions under oath since he accused of assaulting Pete with a semi-automatic firearm on a residential street in Los Angeles five years ago. Peterson is now serving a 10-year sentence\u00a0after being found guilty of shooting Pete in both feet during the alcohol-fueled incident that followed a party at Kylie Jenner\u2019s house.<\/p>\n
\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n
\n\tPete requested the deposition as she pursues her lawsuit against Gramz, whose legal name is Milagro Cooper. Pete claims Cooper spread \u201cvicious and hateful rumors\u201d about her while acting as Peterson\u2019s \u201cpaid surrogate.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tPeterson, 33, declined to testify in his own defense at his December 2022 criminal trial that ended with his conviction on all three felony counts. He\u2019s now appealing the verdict. A source previously told Rolling Stone<\/em> that Peterson regretted not testifying in his own defense. While Pete and her lawyers can subpoena any person they believe has information useful to their case, a spokesman for the non-profit organization whose lawyers now represent Peterson said the incarcerated rapper would not be a willing participant in a prison-based deposition.<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIf you know Tory Lanez how I do, good luck trying to get him to \u2018testify\u2019 to anything, it\u2019s just not what he does,\u201d Ceasar McDowell, CEO of Unite the People, said in a statement previously sent to Rolling Stone<\/em>. \u201cHe definitely did not \u2018agree\u2019 to testify now.\u201d Cooper\u2019s lawyer, Michael Pancier, confirmed that his client did not oppose the deposition.<\/p>\n \n\tPete\u00a0first sued Cooper in October, claiming the YouTuber was part of a \u201ccoordinated campaign\u201d to smear her reputation and harass her as retaliation for her testimony against Peterson at trial. Pete claims Cooper has repeatedly attacked her with claims she suffers from alcoholism and requires a guardian. Pete alleges Cooper also promoted a deepfake pornographic video of her.<\/p>\n \t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n \n\tCooper denies conspiring with Peterson and tried to get the lawsuit dismissed on the grounds that she was shielded as a journalist. The federal judge overseeing the lawsuit in Florida ruled against Cooper, allowing Pete\u2019s lawsuit to proceed. The judge said Pete had made a \u201ccompelling case\u201d that Cooper acted with a \u201creckless disregard for the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tCooper\u2019s alleged ties to Peterson were mentioned in Pete\u2019s recent petition for a restraining order against Peterson. Pete claimed that Peterson used Cooper as a \u201cpuppet and mouthpiece,\u201d pointing to social media posts from October in which Cooper highlighted Peterson\u2019s false claim that the gun used in the July 2020 assault had \u201cgone missing.\u201d The gun remains in police custody.<\/p>\n \t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n \n\tAt a hearing in January, Pete gave emotional testimony that touched on her claims about Cooper without naming her directly. \u201cI haven\u2019t been at peace since I been shot, and I\u2019m just trying to be un-harassed, not only by the person who shot me, but by the people he\u2019s been paying to continue to harass me,\u201d Pete testified under oath. \u201cI probably won\u2019t ever have my own peace about the situation, but I just really want the harassment from the person who shot me to stop.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tLos Angeles County Superior Court Judge Richard Bloom granted the request, giving Pete a five-year restraining order against Peterson. The judge cited \u201cseveral uncontroverted facts\u201d in his ruling, including \u201cconduct that culminated in [Lanez] shooting approximately five rounds at petitioner that resulted in injuries to her.\u201d The judge said Peterson must stay at least 100 yards away from Pete and refrain from harassing, intimidating, or threatening her in any way until at least January 9, 2030.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tory Lanez has been ordered to cover Megan Thee Stallion\u2019s legal fees after he was combative and feigned ignorance of basic facts during a videotaped deposition last April linked to the \u201cSavage\u201d singer\u2019s defamation and cyberstalking lawsuit against YouTube blogger Milagro Gramz. A federal judge issued the sanctions ruling Friday, saying Lanez, born Daystar Peterson,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13657,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[7339,7338,7335,7187,1040,7337,7336,2268],"class_list":{"0":"post-13656","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-deposition","9":"tag-disruptive","10":"tag-lanez","11":"tag-megan","12":"tag-pay","13":"tag-stallion","14":"tag-thee","15":"tag-tory"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13656\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13657"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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