Megan Thee Stallion sues blogger for harassment, promoting deepfake pornography
Megan Thee Stallion is suing a YouTuber who she says has continued to harass her and make false claims about her 2020 shooting by Tory Lanez.
The rapper is accusing Milagro Cooper, known as Milagro Gramz, of cyberstalking, emotional distress and promoting an "altered sexual depiction" for sharing deepfake pornography images of the star, according to a lawsuit filed in Florida's Southern District Court on Wednesday and obtained by Paste BN on Thursday.
Cooper deployed a "years-long campaign of harassment" and cyberbullying against the "Savage" rapper on behalf of Lanez, born Daystar Peterson, who was convicted in 2022 of shooting and wounding her and was sentenced to 10 years in prison the following year.
The blogger's X account has been suspended, and her Instagram account may have been deleted or deactivated.
Cooper's defense team, California nonprofit Unite the People Inc., said in an emailed statement on Thursday that the lawsuit makes "a lot of false claims against" the blogger's "professional conduct in an attempt to stop her from reporting on the Daystar Peterson (AKA Tory Lanez) case."
The nonprofit said the lawsuit and others like it were attempts to "silence" podcasters, reporters and social media influencers "from their right to free speech."
The "Mamushi" rapper is seeking a jury trial.
The rapper, born Megan Pete, says Cooper "liked" the sexually explicit depiction of her on social media and told followers to "go to my likes." Cooper later encouraged people on her YouTube channel to do the same, according to the lawsuit, which includes screenshots.
Deepfakes are artificial intelligence-generated videos produced by machine-learning techniques to create realistic but fake images and audio. Such content portraying Taylor Swift spread on X earlier this year before being blocked, and similar imagery has spread in recent years.
The lawsuit cites Cooper's coverage of Peterson's trial and dozens of tweets on the incident where the blogger allegedly promoted "debunked" conspiracy theories and called into question Pete's legitimacy due to her association with Peterson and his father.
In September, Cooper posted a petition requesting Peterson's release, according to a screenshot in the lawsuit. On Sunday, the lawsuit states, Cooper tweeted the claim that the gun connected to the shooting went "missing." The lawsuit argues that the gun is still in the possession of the Los Angeles Police Department.
And as recently as Monday, the lawsuit says, Cooper reposted a video of herself discussing the shooting, with the blogger purportedly asking Pete, "Can you even prove that you was shot?"
In response to Pete questioning what it would take to not be posted on certain blogs, Cooper reportedly said the rapper should "just get over it, or go away."