Episode 5: Megan Thee Stallion vs. Misogynoir
When Megan Thee Stallion revealed the truth about being shot by Tory Lanez, why was she met with disbelief, Bigfoot jokes, and Illuminati rumors? NPR Music reporter and longtime hottie Sidney Madden unravels how hip-hop culture put Megan on trial, while Tory Lanez’ team claimed the slut-shame defense in court. Scholar Moya Bailey also breaks down the intersection of class, respectability and misogynoir, comparing the conspiracy theories surrounding Megan Thee Stallion to those attached to Beyoncé.
Read the episode 5 transcript.
guests:
Sidney Madden is an award-winning music journalist, critic, producer and host currently working as a correspondent for NPR Music. With more than a decade of experience on the beat of Black music, Sidney specializes in storytelling at the intersection of art, culture and sociopolitical shift. Sidney’s byline has appeared in publications like XXL, Nylon and MTV News and her on-air appearances include NPR, BBC, Vox, CNN, PBS and Access Hollywood. As co-host and co-creator of the podcast Louder Than A Riot, Sidney and co-host Rodney Carmichael have traced the collision of rhyme and punishment across two seasons, using the cultural lens of hip-hop to expose how mass incarceration and misogynoir impact Black America. Louder has been cited for its outstanding cultural reporting by The New York Times, Essence, TIME and more. As both a storyteller and curator, Sidney has been recognized by The Webby Awards, The American Bar Association, The Signal Awards, CCNYC’s Culture Con, The International Women’s Podcast Awards and, most importantly, by music fans who feel challenged and championed by her work.
Moya Bailey is an Associate Professor at Northwestern University and is the founder of the Digital Apothecary and co-founder of the Black Feminist Health Science Studies Collective. Her work focuses on marginalized groups’ use of digital media to promote social justice, and she is interested in how race, gender, and sexuality are represented in media and medicine. She is the digital alchemist for the Octavia E. Butler Legacy Network and the Board President of Allied Media Projects, a Detroit-based movement media organization that supports an ever-growing network of activists and organizers. She is a co-author of #HashtagActivism: Networks of Race and Gender Justice (MIT Press, 2020) and is the author of Misogynoir Transformed: Black Women’s Digital Resistance (New York University Press, 2021).
sources:
Arceneaux, Michael. Tory Lanez Supporters and Their Stupid Conspiracy Theories. Medium. 27 Dec, 2022.
Heyward, Giulia. The timeline of events in the Tory Lanez assault case. NPR. 23 Dec, 2022.
Louder Than a Riot. How the culture put Megan Thee Stallion on trial for being shot. NPR. 16 March, 2023.
Madden, Sidney. Explaining the war of words between Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion. All Things Considered. 29 Jan, 2024.
Madden, Sidney. Megan Thee Stallion At Tiny Desk Fest: 'I'm Always Trying To One-Up Myself.' All Songs Considered. 30 Oct, 2019.
Mahadevan, Tara. Megan Thee Stallion Addresses Conspiracy Theories Surrounding Her Mother's Death. Complex. 15 Sep, 2019.
Norwood, Candice. Meghann Cuniff talks about covering the Tory Lanez trial and Megan Thee Stallion. 19th News. 15 Aug, 2023.
Reilly, Nick. Megan Thee Stallion hits back after conspiracy theorists claim Roc Nation deal is a sign of the devil. NME. 16 Sept, 2019.
Reslen, Eileen. Tory Lanez allegedly shot Megan Thee Stallion while she was 'trying to leave.' Page Six. 16 July, 2020.
TMZ. Tory Lanez Arrested on Gun Charge . . . Ends Night Out with Meg Thee Stallion. 13 July, 2020.
