Megan Thee Stallion Shouldn't Have To Post Her Gunshot Wounds To Be Believed

Since being shot in both feet last month (allegedly by rapper Tory Lanez), Megan Thee Stallion has been taking time to heal and recover. She's also, since nearly the minute the news of the attack broke, been at the receiving end of jokes, hateful comments, disbelief and general bullshit at the hands of the internet. Having already defended herself in an emotional Instagram Live, the beloved Houston rapper shared photos of her gunshot wounds on social media — in a now-deleted post — as proof of the pain of her ordeal.

Taking to Instagram, Megan wrote, "Lol what I have learned abt majority of the people on social media is y’all like to hear bad news before good news, a lie spreads quicker than the truth, and y’all really be believing the shit YALL make up... I got hit at the back of my feet because when I got shot I was WALKING AWAY FACING THE BACK. why would I lie abt getting shot? Why are y’all so upset that I don’t wanna be in the bed sad ? Why y’all upset that I can walk ? I got my stitches out my feet like 2 weeks ago and I was ready to go celebrate WAP going number1... I usually don’t address internet bullshit but y’all people are so sick! God was really watching over me and I’m healing so well! Sorry I’m not as sad and miserable as a lot of y’all lol but ima keep being Megan Thee Mf STALLION"

Megan Thee Stallion should not have had to show her bloodied feet online to receive peace from commenters who otherwise doubt her experience. In a time when Black people's pain is belittled, ignored and commodified, in an era when the concept of 'believe women' has at best patchy support, in a country where the health of Black women is routinely put at risk due to discrimination, it perhaps shouldn't be surprising that Meg feels the need to provide physical evidence of her own reality, but it is disheartening. Thankfully, in addition to the hate, the artist has plenty of support — and a number one single to boot.