Brandon Livesay
Live reporter

Hello and welcome back to our coverage of the sentencing of Tory Lanez, a Canadian rapper who shot hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion.

Lanez has been in custody since he was found guilty in December 2022, and today we are expecting to find out if he will remain behind bars. Prosecutors want him locked up for at least 13 years.

The shooting took place after a Kylie Jenner pool party in Los Angeles in 2020 when Lanez and Megan Thee Stallion were driving home in the same car.

Megan was shot in the feet, and has since said her life would never be the same.

The case has become a major topic in the broader world of hip-hop, with musicians like Drake, 50 Cent and Iggy Azalea commenting.

Court resumes in 15 minutes. Stay with us.

We're pausing our live coverage as we continue to wait to learn what sentence rapper Tory Lanez will receive.

Lanez was convicted last year on three charges stemming from his shooting of Megan Thee Stallion.

He has been in jail since December awaiting today's sentencing hearing.

Prosecutors want to see him locked up for at least 13 years but his family has appealed for a shorter sentence.

Thanks for joining us.

Image source, Getty Images

Australian rapper Iggy Azalea has previously come under fire for her decision to work alongside Tory Lanez.

Many took to social media to criticise the artist after Lanez publicised his plans to work as the executive producer on her next album.

He had already been charged in connection with the shooting of Megan Thee Stallion at the time. Following criticism, Azalea was quoted as saying on Twitter last October:

"You're all very welcome to speak your opinion freely about me... just as long as we all have an understanding: you are having a monologue & not a discussion with me - because (respectfully) my bills remain paid without your two cents."

Today, USA Today reported that Iggy Azalea wrote one of the more than 70 letters to the judge in support of Lanez. Her letter reportedly asked for his sentence to be "transformational, not life-destroying".

Tory Lanez was convicted in December 2022 of three charges:

• assault with a semi-automatic firearm
• having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle
• discharging a firearm with gross negligence

He has been in jail since the guilty verdict.

Prosecutors are seeking a 13-year prison sentence and the rapper faces deportation to his native Canada.

Lawyers for Lanez have previously asked for probation and for him to be released from jail to enter a rehab programme.

The judge is expected to read the sentence shortly when court returns from its lunch recess.

Riyah Collins
BBC Newsbeat

Even though Lanez has already been found guilty, Megan Thee Stallion has still received criticism online.

Accusations of lying have been levelled against the Grammy-winning rapper, because her story changed early on.

Megan has frequently defended herself on X, formerly known as Twitter, and said she'd been painted as aggressive and a "snitch".

She’s also called out those online who think it’s “cool to joke” about women getting shot.

Megan has suggested misogynoir - misogyny against black women - could be why she has been targeted.

And she’s spoken about the effect "false narratives" and "conspiracy theories" had on her.

In April, she said she felt humiliated when her account of the incident was questioned on social media and her "trauma was treated like a running joke".

"We can't control what others think, especially when the lies are juicier than the truth,” she said.

As we reported earlier, a jail chaplain has petitioned the court for a chance to speak to the judge.

According to freelance court reporter Meghann Cuniff, the chaplain said Lanez had started a daily moment of prayer during his time in the jail's protective custody unit that had "lessened the tensions between inmates".

The chaplain also reportedly said Lanez had stood out from the 15,000 inmates in the jail.

The judge said one prison officer had also written a letter of support, stating that Lanez was "remorseful" and had "talked in detail about the event and what he could have done to prevent it".

According to freelance court reporter Meghann Cuniff, external, right before the court broke to give the judge time to prepare his sentencing remarks, Tory Lanez's father, Sonstar Peterson, gave a tearful address.

Cuniff says he apologised to the judge for an outburst in the courtroom after his son was found guilty, attributing it to emotion rather than any disrespect for the court.

Cuniff also reported that the judge sentencing Lanez received upwards of 70 letters in support for the defendant, including one from Australian rapper Iggy Azalea and another from Lanez's six-year-old son.

Los Angeles prosecutors are seeking a 13-year sentence in state prison for Tory Lanez.

They argue he has not only shown a lack of remorse for his actions but has also waged a three-year campaign to "humiliate and re-traumatise the victim through his actions and his words”.

In a sentencing memo filed in June, they alleged Lanez has “weaponised misinformation to his large following” via social media and hip-hop blogs.

“Words have power and the pen is oftentimes mightier than the sword,” they wrote. “In this case, Daystar Peterson [Lanez's legal name] used both.”

Defence lawyers for Lanez have meanwhile claimed the evidence behind his conviction was “questionable at best” and, even if he had shot his friend, his "childhood trauma and mental illness, alcohol-use disorder" as well as his ongoing "charitable activities" should be taken into consideration.

They have called for Lanez to serve a period of probation and then enter a residential substance abuse programme.

Read more: How the Megan Thee Stallion shooting trial played out

Image source, Getty Images

Both Megan Thee Stallion and Tory Lanez have released songs that reference the shooting.

For Megan Thee Stallion, the lyrics are about defiance and truth-telling, while Lanez’s lyrics are about being the victim of lies.

In Megan Thee Stallion’s song Shots Fired, she raps: “Imagine… lying about shooting just to save face”.

“I be speaking facts, they can’t handle that / they want me to be the bad guy,” she continues. In her song, she does not reference Lanez by name.

In Lanez’s song Money Over Fallout, he says: “Megan people trying to frame me for a shooting.”

“Girl, you had the nerve to write that statement on that affidavit / knowing I ain't do it but I'm coming at my truest.”

Charges in this case were not brought by Megan Thee Stallion, but by the office of the Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón.

Gascón will speak after the sentencing of Tory Lanez.

Stay with us as we bring you his remarks from 12:00 PDT (20:00 BST).

In December, a 12-person jury deliberated for a day before concluding that Tory Lanez was guilty on all three charges in the Megan Thee Stallion shooting incident.

The reading of their verdict was derailed as Lanez's father and stepmother began yelling in court about wicked injustice.

According to reporters in the room, Sonstar Peterson screamed that the prosecutors were evil and part of a "wicked system" that had convicted his son.

Peterson and others also reportedly channelled their public ire toward Roc Nation, the Jay-Z-owned music label to which Megan is signed.

Lanez was handcuffed and led away as sheriff's deputies tried to regain order in the court.

It is still not clear whether Megan Thee Stallion will make an appearance at the sentencing of Tory Lanez today.

But somebody else - a chaplain of the court jail - reportedly has made an appearance.

According to ABC News reporter Zoreen Shah, the chaplain wants five minutes of the judge's time to make a plea on behalf of Lanez.

The chaplain said that Lanez has been an outstanding inmate and leads other inmates in prayer calls, and Lanez had asked if he would speak to the judge, Shah reported.

It may be a last resort for Lanez, who could face anywhere between nine and 22 years in prison on the three charges against him.

Riyah Collins
BBC Newsbeat

Image source, Getty Images

It's a case that has divided fans and spilled out into the wider hip-hop world, with artists like 50 Cent and Drake getting involved.

Megan Thee Stallion criticised Drake when he released Circo Loco, a collab with 21 Savage that appeared to reference the shooting case in its lyrics.

50 Cent shared memes depicting Megan and Tory Lanez as fictional characters, and he compared Megan to Jussie Smollett, the former Empire actor who was found guilty of falsely claiming he was the victim of a hate crime.

He eventually apologised saying he changed his mind after hearing evidence from the trial.

But she did receive support from fellow artists, like JoJo and Kehlani.

The pair removed Tory Lanez from their albums, with Kehlani saying she had to “do the right thing” because the situation involved her close friend Megan.

Tory Lanez will learn his fate shortly when court gets underway at 13:30 local time.

We'll bring you the latest updates right here.

Image source, Getty Images

Megan Thee Stallion and Tory Lanez were friends at the time of the shooting.

Prosecutors have described them as sharing “a brief intimate relationship”. At trial, lawyers for Lanez called it a “case about jealousy”.

In Lanez's version of events, Kelsey Harris - Megan’s friend and another passenger in the vehicle - shot at her after finding out they had both been sleeping with Lanez at the same time.

Megan, for her part, has refuted the claim she was in a sexual or romantic relationship with Lanez. She alleges they became close friends after they both lost their mothers within a similar timespan.

“I was letting so many people in,” she told GQ last year. "I didn't care who it was. I just wanted to feel like I got family and I got people that care about me.”

11 July 2020:

• Kylie Jenner throws a Hollywood party. Megan Thee Stallion and Tory Lanez are among the exclusive invitees

12 July 2020:

• In the early hours, Megan Thee Stallion and Lanez drive home and an argument starts. Megan testified that it began when she mocked his musical talents. She demanded to be let out of the car and Lanez opened fire, hitting her in the foot
• Police conduct a traffic stop and arrest Lanez. He is released on bail later that day
• Megan goes to hospital where doctors find bullet fragments in her foot and she undergoes surgery
• Megan initially tells police she was injured by broken glass, allegedly because she did not trust authorities to respond without violence

15 July 2020

• Megan releases a statement detailing a shooting, but does not name Lanez

20 August 2020

• On Instagram, Megan speaks about the night of the shooting and accuses Lanez as the culprit

9 October 2020

• Lanez is charged over the incident

Image source, Getty Images

Megan Thee Stallion - whose legal name is Megan Pete - is a 28-year-old US singer, songwriter and rapper.

She has won three Grammy Awards for her music, including Best New Artist in 2021.

The artist also won the Best Rap Song Grammy for Savage Remix with Beyonce in the same year.

Savage Remix reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, as did her collaboration with Cardi B on WAP.

Megan has also worked with Nicki Minaj and Ty Dollar $ign.

Image source, Getty Images

Tory Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, is a 31-year-old Canadian rapper.

His songs include; The Color Violet and Hurts me.

Lanez has been in prison since December 2022 after he was convicted of three charges over the shooting of Megan Thee Stallion:

• Assault with a semiautomatic firearm
• Having a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle
• Discharging a firearm with gross negligence

He has continued to release music while in prison.

During the trial, the jury heard that during the drive home from Kylie Jenner’s pool party on the night of July 11 2020, Megan Thee Stallion insulted Tory Lanez‘s musical talent.

As the argument escalated, she demanded to be let out of the car. Megan testified that she heard Lanez shout “dance" before he fired five rounds at her.

The court heard she left a trail of blood at the scene, before getting back into the vehicle, which was stopped minutes later by police.

A gun that was still warm to the touch was found near where Lanez had been sitting.

Megan testified Lanez had offered her $1m (£780,000) to keep quiet about the attack because he claimed to be on probation for a weapons offence.

Minutes after the shooting, another passenger texted Megan Thee Stallion's security detail, saying: "Help... Tory shot meg."

• Read more here

Hello and welcome to our live coverage for the sentencing of Tory Lanez, who was found guilty in 2022 of shooting hip-hop superstar Megan Thee Stallion.

Lanez has been in jail since the verdict was handed down in December of last year.

Today, we are expecting to find out if the Canadian rapper will stay behind bars - and for how long.

The shooting took place back in 2020, and a lot has happened both inside - and outside - court since then.

It's a case that has divided fans and spilled out into the wider hip-hop world, with Drake and 50 Cent being accused of taking sides at different stages.

Stay with us.