Topline
Rapper Megan Thee Stallion, whose famous shooting case rocked the music industry and highlighted what has been called a deep-rooted misogyny in hip-hop, will tell the story of her life in a new full-length Prime Video documentary set to be released later this month.
Megan Thee Stallion attends the “Mean Girls” premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on Jan. 8, 2024.
Key Facts
Amazon on Monday announced “Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words” will be available for streaming on Prime starting Oct. 31 and promises to unpack the “most vulnerable moments” of the musician’s career.
The film’s description says it will follow the rapper’s “journey on the road to stardom as she tenaciously navigates fame, grief, pressure and success,” but didn’t specify exactly what would and wouldn’t be included.
Nneka Onuorah, who won a primetime Emmy Award for her work on “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls,” directed the film.
Lori York and Desiree Perez of Roc Nation, Jay-Z’s production company; Loren Hammonds and Dave O’Connor of TIME Studios; Alexa Conway and Ian Orefice are executive producers.
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Key Background
Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Pete, released her first single “Cash Shit” in 2019 and “Hot Girl Summer” later that year, which peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. She earned her first No. 1 hit in the spring of 2020, months before she was shot in the foot by fellow rapper Tory Lanez in Hollywood in an incident that would echo across the music industry. Pete said she and Lanez were leaving a Hollywood Hills house party in July 2020 when he told her to “dance b***h” before shooting at her feet during an argument about their careers and relationship. Lanez said he wasn’t the one who shot Pete, but he was convicted in the shooting in December of 2022 and sentenced to 10 years in prison last August. Lanez later released an album addressing the shooting and claimed Megan and her team were “trying to frame him.” Other critics and fellow industry professionals doubted her story from the beginning and spread false information in a campaign that has since been called an example of misogyny in hip-hop. Rappers Drake and 21 Savage faced criticism for lyrics suggesting Megan lied about the shooting, and 50 Cent shared a meme mocking the situation (he later apologized). Other female celebrities, like Halle Berry, Lizzo and Janelle Monae, publicly defended her. One month after the shooting, she released another No. 1 single, “Wap,” with Cardi B.
Big Number
3. That’s how many No. 1 hits Megan has had on the Billboard Hot 100, most recently hitting the milestone with “Hiss,” which topped the chart for one week in February. She’s had 39 songs make the chart and four make the top 10: “Hiss” “Savage,” “WAP” and “34+35.”
Surprising Fact
Pete was sued by a former cameraman in April who claimed he was berated by the rapper for eating too much, was overworked and was trapped in a situation he couldn’t escape in which Pete had sex in front of him. Emilio Garcia filed his suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court suing Pete for harassment, labor code violations and creating a hostile work environment. Lawyers for Pete have denied the claim and called Garcia a “con artist” in a court filing. The case was transferred to federal court in the Central District of California in September and is still pending.
Tangent
Megan Thee Stallion is just the latest in a long line of musicians who have this year been the subject of a documentary for a streaming service. Disney released “The Beach Boys” in May, Max put out a docuseries called “Fallen Idols” about Nick and Aaron Carter the same month, Prime Video released “I Am: Celine Dion” in June and Melissa Ethridge’s “I’m Not Broken” debuted on Paramount+ in July. Olivia Rodrigo will debut her first concert special on Netflix on Oct. 29.
