The California Supreme Court has refused Tory Lanez’s bid to overturn his convictions for shooting Megan Thee Stallion, effectively affirming his 10-year prison sentence.

In an order issued last week, the state’s top court denied a petition for review filed by the singer (Daystar Peterson), who was found guilty in 2022 of shooting Megan (Megan Pete) in the foot during a drunken argument on a Hollywood Hills street.

Lanez and his supporters have long maintained his innocence, arguing there’s insufficient proof he was the shooter and that he received an unfair trial. But a lower appeals court rejected that argument in November, upholding the conviction and his lengthy prison sentence.

The new order by the Supreme Court, issued Wednesday (Feb. 25), refused Lanez’s request for the high court to review that earlier ruling. Like the U.S. Supreme Court, California’s highest court hears only a small fraction of the cases it receives.

The order comes more than five years after the July 12, 2020, shooting, which happened as a driver was shuttling Lanez, Megan and her assistant/friend Kelsey Harris from a party at Kylie Jenner’s house. According to prosecutors, when Megan got out of a vehicle and began walking away, Lanez shouted “Dance, b—h!” and fired a gun at her feet, striking her once.

Following the incident, Megan initially told police officers that she had cut her foot stepping on broken glass, but days later alleged that she had been shot. Lanez was eventually charged with the shooting in October 2022.

During a blockbuster trial in Los Angeles court, Lanez’s lawyers tried to sow doubt over who had really pulled the trigger, painting a scenario in which Harris could have been the shooter. But a key defense witness offered confusing eyewitness testimony, and prosecutors pointed to an earlier interview in which Harris pinned the blame squarely on Lanez. Megan herself offered powerful testimony that Lanez had been the one to shoot her, and neither Lanez nor the driver took the witness stand.

Lanez and his supporters have refused to accept that verdict, calling it a “miscarriage of justice.” His legal team has filed multiple forms of appeal to challenge the verdict, each of which has now been rejected. They have also repeatedly made public claims about new or alternative evidence that allegedly exonerates him, but Megan’s reps and prosecutors strongly deny that.

Returning as host, comedian/actor and three-time Image Award winner Deon Cole helmed the 57th annual NAACP Image Awards at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium on Friday (Feb. 28). The tightly paced, two-hour ceremony featured no musical performances. Cole, however, skillfully balanced both a topical and cultural tone while keeping the proceedings lively, especially during his opening monologue.

“Welcome to the NAACP Trump Image Awards,” Cole deadpanned to the audience’s high-spirited laughter. “We had to do that. Yes, he wants his name on everything. I apologize. If we didn’t do that, we’d go to commercial and come back in an episode of Matlock.”

After addressing the Epstein files, Cole then implored show officials to “charge me for this curse word” used to spotlight another topical subject during which he was bleeped out. But it wasn’t hard to read his lips: “F—k ICE.” Greeted again by hearty applause, and shoutouts as well as a standing ovation, Cole added, “I don’t want to see no ICE ever again. When I looked at the guest list, I took off Ice Cube, Iced Tea, Ice Spice. I don’t want no ice cream. I don’t want no ice in my drink…”

Taking the audience to church next, Cole led a prayer on behalf of several entertainers. Among those he blessed were Teyana Taylor (“Keep her single and away from 6’3” green-eyed men with muscles”), 50 Cent (“But that pettiness begins our day going fast at work, don’t it?”) and Nicki Minaj (“She’s been going through a lot lately. She hasn’t been herself. Lord, I believe whatever’s in her ass is affecting her brain”).

Lastly, Cole addressed the recent British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Awards controversy that erupted when the N-word was shouted out by John Davidson, who suffers from Tourette syndrome, while Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting an award at that ceremony (Feb. 22). BAFTA, the BBC and Davidson (also a Tourette activist whose life inspired the 2025 film I Swear) subsequently apologized.

“Before we go, Lord,” concluded Cole, “if there are any white men out here in the audience with Tourette’s, I advise you to tell them that they better read the room tonight. Lord, it might not go the way they think. Whatever medicine they’re on, they better double up on it. Lord, all these things we ask in Jesus’ name … let the church say amen.”

Moving ahead to the evening’s first award presentation, Cole brought everything full circle. “Let’s have a good time here celebrating everybody’s accomplishments … and we’re going to celebrate being together. Make some noise, y’all. Ain’t nobody better than the next person.”

Among other Image Awards highlights was Samuel L. Jackson’s stirring tribute to late civil rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson. Members of the Jackson family were also in attendance.