Associated Incidents
MIAMI --- A federal jury sided with Megan Thee Stallion on Monday and agreed that a blogger defamed and harassed the rapper --- but limited damages to less than six figures.
The federal panel of five men and four women came down in favor of Megan, the artist born Megan Pete, in her lawsuit against blogger Milagro Gramz, whose real name is Milagro Cooper.
The suit was over material Cooper posted after R&B musician Tory Lanez shot Megan five years ago.
Jurors initially awarded Megan $75,000, which U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga reduced to $59,000 in a final ruling filed on Tuesday.
"We're thankful for the jury's commitment to reinforcing the importance of truth, accountability and responsible commentary on social media," the plaintiff's attorney Mari Henderson said in a statement.
"Not only is Milagro being held accountable for paying Megan compensatory and punitive damages, but Florida's fee-shifting legal provision will require her to cover costs of Megan's legal bills on the deepfake claim. This verdict sends a clear message that spreading dangerous misinformation carries significant consequences."
The artist didn't answer reporters' questions as she left court on Monday.
Cooper didn't appear to be particularly pleased or distressed by the panel's findings.
"I'm not ecstatic," Cooper said. "Of course you want things to go your way, but like I said, I respect the jury and what they decided."
Her attorney, Jeremy McLymont, said he's grateful that jurors didn't award seven digits of damages.
"We respect the jury's verdict. You always have to, right? Whether we agree with it or not, we respect it," he said.
"At the end of the day it was not a complete win for any side."
Megan accused Cooper of being a "mouthpiece," a "puppet" and a "paid surrogate" for Lanez, who shot her in Los Angeles on July 15, 2020.
Jurors found that Cooper willfully encouraged her thousands of followers on X and Instagram to view a sexually explicit deepfake video of Megan that had been circulating on social media.
"In sum, the jury's Verdict supports entry of judgment for Plaintiff on her claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress and promotion of an altered sexual depiction," Judge Altonaga wrote.
"Plaintiff is entitled to $59,000 in damages --- the amount of compensatory and punitive damages by the jury on those two claims."
Lanez shot Megan in the foot after the pair left a party at Kylie Jenner's home in 2020.
A Los Angeles jury found Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, guilty of three felony charges on Dec. 23, 2022: assault with a semiautomatic firearm, carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle and discharging a firearm with gross negligence.
He was sentenced to up to 10 years behind bars.
Megan said she has been struggling with mental health issues since the shooting and the harassment from the blogger.