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Dossier 003: Dreams and Nightmares

Gerrick Kennedy

Apr 29

This is Dossier, Coda's semiregular cache of notes and observations on culture. Click here to subscribe or to visit the archive.

Photo illustration by Coda. Photos by Getty Images.

The other night I was aimlessly scrolling TikTok instead of sleeping, as one does, and came across a live where someone was discussing the allegation Megan Thee Stallion made in August 2020 about Tory Lanez shooting her. I typically just like to watch the comments scroll without actually participating, but there was something about watching a man ramble on about Meg being a liar while eating a seafood boil that sent a rage through my body.

Before I could stop myself I wrote, “He did that shit, and this conversation is fucking goofy” and smashed send, fully satisfied with me telling off a stranger in front of 123 others in the live. And then my blood boiled over when he scrolled right past my comment to shout out the next person agreeing with his position.

Granted, I know better than to goad a stranger on the Internet into an argument but the discourse around Megan sends me into a fury. In the nearly two years since the allegation was made, Meg has been fighting to be heard. This week she sat down with Gayle King to give her first televised interview about the shooting, which occurred after a summer pool party at Kylie Jenner’s Hollywood Hills home. “I feel like I have to hold it in because I have to be strong for so many people. I know this happened to me, and I would rather it play out in court and the facts come out ... than me having to plead my case,” she told King. “…I’m the victim. I’m not defending myself against anything. Something happened to me.”

Meg tearfully detailed the incident, and the aftermath during the interview—telling King how Lanez apologized and allegedly offered her $1 million to keep quiet and that she lied to the authorities out of fear that the night would turn deadly if they knew a firearm was in the vehicle. Lanez has pleaded not guilty to felony assault and weapons charges and was ordered to not make any public mention of the case or the victim earlier this month after a judge found him in violation of a protective order. The case isn’t set to go to trial until September, but Meg feeling like she needs to plead her case to the world has been on my mind heavy lately.

By the time I came in hot on a stranger on TikTok, I had already had enough. Since Meg made the allegation she’s been taunted by Lanez and his fans and faced the scrutiny of social media detectives who are certain she’s making it all up for clout. Popular blogs have spread misinformation about the case and seemingly every straight Black man with a connecting beard and a studio microphone has hopped on their podcast to make us suffer through their defense of Lanez. It’s infuriating to watch Meg be villainized and maligned within the industry while Lanez is embraced. The fact that we’ve had to suffer through so many corny beefs but yet none of these dudes have any energy for Lanez is wildly disappointing to me. But let me stop acting like this isn’t the same industry that looked the other way for Russell Simmons and R. Kelly. It’ll certainly make for a compelling case study in the sordid history of hip-hop’s unchecked misogynoir.

SINCE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT MISOGYNOIR

Photo illustration by Coda

In case you missed it, I wrote about #ProtectBlackWomen and the painful reminder that the hashtag feels an awful lot like lip service considering, oh, I dunno....the history of Black women in America? Here's an excerpt:

The piece really riled up white men, who haven't been able to stop themselves from leaving racist gobbledygook in my inbox (before I blocked them lol).

THIS IS MY NIGHTMARE

So listen, my mother keeps telling me to check out Showtime's The First Lady. She knows I love a good prestige drama and worship Viola Davis, but I really haven't been able to rebound from the few clips I've seen of Davis' as Michelle Obama. It's giving caricature. The lip quiver and the makeup are a full wear out and I just can't do it. In fact, I won't do it. I would, however, love to read Lady O's group texts. Davis knows we're running our mouths about her on the Internet, which is why she let the choppa spray in an interview with BBC News, telling the publication that "critics are useless." I said all I had to say about that on Twitter:

I really just wanted you to see a pic of this face. Those eyebrows will haunt my dreams to come. What did Michelle do to deserve this? (Don't answer that!)

I ALSO WRITE ABOUT WHITE PEOPLE DOING BAD THINGS

I guarantee someone you know is obsessing over Johnny Depp’s $50 defamation suit against his ex-wife Amber Heard. The case is an absolute nightmare, but I've learned more about some of my Facebook friends than I thought was possible in the last week considering the sheer hatred they seem to have for this white woman. It's intense and after going down the wormhole on this case the other day I've heard from more folks on this than a few of my last pieces—combined. Do I feel a way? Yes. Yes I do, but if this will get you all to finally release us from your feelings around The Slap™ then I'll take it.

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