Megan Thee Stallion continues to deal with the fallout of Tory Lanez shooting her almost six years ago, and it's via the Milagro Gramz case. A court found the blogger liable for defamation after accepting payments from Tory's camp to spread false and disparaging information about Megan regarding the Lanez case. But the court didn't open the door for Meg to collect her $75K defamation judgement... Until now.
According to Billboard, a Florida federal judge ruled in court yesterday (Friday, May 29) that Gramz should not receive previously instated defamation protections that prevented the defamation judgement from being actionable. Those protections exist for journalists, and require a pre-lawsuit notice that Thee Stallion's team did not provide.
But Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga ruled yesterday that Milagro Gramz isn't a journalist for the case's purposes and under the guidelines set by those protections. As for why the protections don't apply, it's because of Lanez and his father paying her for her posts.
"Because the trial record shows that defendant was commissioned by the Petersons to publish or broadcast the three defamatory statements, the court finds as a matter of law that defendant was not entitled to pre-suit notice," the judge reportedly wrote. The now-actionable judgement covers punishment for defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and sharing deepfaked sexual content depicting the Houston star.
Megan Thee Stallion Addresses Milagro Gramz
Megan Thee Stallion addressed the Milagro Gramz case in a statement yesterday, calling the ruling "a reminder that the truth matters and ultimately prevails."
"I’m truly grateful for the judge’s thoughtful and thorough consideration in reinstating the jury’s defamation verdict and holding the defendant fully accountable for all of her actions," she continued. "’m ready to finally close this chapter, and I hope this sends a powerful message that spreading lies and defamatory statements has clear consequences."
In addition to compensatory and punitive damages, Gramz will also reportedly have to cover Meg's legal fees regarding the deepfake matter, according to Complex. But according to AllHipHop, the court reportedly shared they may be addressing questions of attorney and legal costs "until after any post-trial motions are decided or an appeal is concluded."
Elsewhere, Megan Thee Stallion's Milagro Gramz case was punitive, but not suppressive. Judge Altonaga reportedly denied a request to issue an injunction silencing Gramz from speaking any further on Megan publicly.
