To borrow from her husband, actor Courtney B. Vance, when talking about his wife in the Nov/ Dec Essenceissue: “I don’t know anybody else like her. She’s once in a generation; once in a lifetime. I always tell her that the world is waiting for her Oscar so that we can lift her up 30 years past when we should have.”
xoNecole takes a look back at some of Bassett’s stand-out roles.
1993: 'What’s Love Got To Do With It'
In her career-defining role, Bassett stars as rock 'n' roll icon Tina Turner in a biopic about the legendary singer’s career and tumultuous relationship with her ex-husband Ike Turner. The role would earn Bassett her first and currently only Oscar nomination. In a 2018 interview with Watch What Happens LiveWith Andy Cohen, Bassett agreed with the host when he said that he felt like Bassett was robbed of the Academy Award that would end up being awarded to Holly Hunter.
This wasn’t the first nor last time Bassett would prove that she could portray a real-life person. She has also played Michael and Janet Jackson’s mom Katherine Jackson in The Jacksons: An American Dream as well as historical figures such as Betty Shabazz, Rosa Parks, and Coretta Scott King.
1995: 'Waiting to Exhale'
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This classic film based on the Terry McMillan novel of the same name boasted a star-studded ensemble cast that includes Loretta Devine to thee Whitney Houston. But it was Bassett who stole the show when her character Bernadette lit her unfaithful ex-husband’s car on fire after going on an emotional tirade. The scene would go down as one of the most iconic in film history while also invigorating every woman scorned who watched it.
1998: 'How Stella Got Her Groove Back'
In another Terry McMillan film adaptation (which is based on a true story), Bassett plays the titular Stella as she sojourns to Jamaica after her divorce and meets a young, fine local played by Taye Diggs. Bassett’s role would once again inspire Black women across the country to find their own groove again.
2006: 'Akeelah and the Bee'
In what would be the breakout role for a then-unknown Keke Palmer, Bassett plays the mother to Palmer’s character who is a spelling bee prodigy. Marking her third on-screen appearance with actor Laurence Fishbourne, Bassett plays the concerned mother role the only way she knows how.
2022: 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever'
Returning as Ramonda, the queen of Wakanda, Bassett is every bit as regal as she was in the first film. With her role expanded in the wake of Chadwick Boseman’s death, Bassett delivers a stunning performance that many think will finally secure her second chance at Oscar gold.
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Gun violence is an issue that continues to disproportionately impact Black women. According to a 2022 study, “Black women are three times more likely to be fatally shot by an intimate partner compared to white women.” (Megan has denied having an intimate relationship with Lanez.) During a particularly fraught time in hip hop, when we’ve lost so many artists to gun violence, including the recent murder of rapper Takeoff, it’s difficult to witness the continued minimizing and victim blaming of Megan by her peers in the business.
xoNecole has compiled a timeline of the events that unfolded following Megan’s shooting, including members of the industry who have seemingly undermined her story.
Megan Thee Stallion and Tory Lanez: A Timeline of Events
July 12, 2020
Reports surfaced that Megan had been shot by an unreported assailant while with Lanez, born Daystar Peterson, his bodyguard, and Megan’s friend at the time Kelsey Nicole when leaving a party at Kylie Jenner’s house.
July 16, 2020
Tory Lanez
Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images
Page Six exclusively reported that Lanez had officially been named as a potential suspect in the shooting. “Tory fired the shots from within the vehicle while Megan was outside trying to leave,” a source told the outlet. “There is video and the police are investigating. This is a case of a man physically harming and abusing a woman.”
It was also reported around this time that Megan unfollowed the singer on Instagram.
July 22, 2020
Megan gets on Twitter to clap back at reality star Draya Michele who went on a podcast and suggested that Lanez and Megan “had some sort of Bobby and Whitney love that drove them down this type of road" and joked that “I want you to like me so much you shoot me in the foot too."
“Dumb bitch that shit ain’t fucking funny who tf jokes about getting shot by a nigga,” Megan tweeted.
Michele would later apologize saying that her attempt at a joke fell flat and that "I truly don’t glorify domestic violence... I was trying to say just love me deeply."
July 23, 2020
Podcaster Adam22 reports that sources told him that Megan and Lanez were in a sexual relationship and that there was a flirtation between Jenner and Lanez at the party. Their interaction reportedly caused Megan to become jealous and start “violating his ass” and “really shitting on him.”
That same day, rapper Cam’ron received backlash on social media after posting a transphobic comment about Megan saying, "Tory Lanez saw that dick and started shootn..IDC what no one say."July 28, 2020
Rapper 50 Cent issues an apology to Megan after posting a meme depicting the Grammy award-winner as the character Ricky from the film Boyz n the Hood as he’s being shot.
“👀Damn I didn’t think this shit was real,🤦♂️It sounded so crazy @theestallion i’m glad your [sic] feeling better and i hope you can accept my apology. I posted a meme that was floating around. I wouldn’t have done that if i knew you was really hurt sorry. 🤷🏽♂️," he wrote.
August 19, 2020
Megan posts a photo of her injured foot on Instagram in an attempt to quell rumors that she wasn’t shot.
August 21, 2020
Megan gets on IG live and confirms that Lanez allegedly shot her. “Since y’all hoes so worried ’bout it, yes, this nigga Tory shot me,” she said. “You shot me. And you got your publicist and your people going to these blogs lying and shit. Stop lying. Why lie? I don’t understand. I tried to keep the situation off the internet, but you dragging it.
She continued, “You really fucking dragging it. Motherfuckers talking about I hit this nigga. I never hit you. Motherfuckers like, ‘Oh she mad ’cause he was trying to fuck with Kylie.’ No, I wasn’t. Like, you dry shot me. Like, everybody in the car – there’s only four motherfuckers in the car: me, you, my homegirl, and your security. I get out the car, I’m done arguing. I don’t wanna argue no more. I get out, I’m walking away. This nigga, from outside the back seat of the car, start shooting me. You shot me!”
She also addressed rumors that the injury to her foot was actually caused by broken glass. “I ain’t get cut by no glass, but let me tell you why they’re saying that: the people in the neighborhood –there’s a witness – when the police came because the neighbors called the police – this did not happen at Kylie’s house.” She continued, “This happened damn near back at the house I was staying at. I was just trying to get home. We were five minutes away from my spot. The police come and I’m scared.”
“All this shit going on with the police. The police are shooting motherfuckers for anything. The police was literally killing Black people for no motherfucking reason. Soon as the police tell us all ‘Get out the motherfucking car,' the police is really aggressive,” she explained. “You think I’m bout to tell the police that we – niggas, us Black people – got a gun in the car?! You want me to tell them that we got a gun in the car so they can shoot all of us up? Nigga, I’m scared.”
August 25, 2020
Houston legend Bun B comes out in support of his fellow hometown resident. “I know Tory, I know his manager. I know all of ‘em. Fuck all that, though. If the man on drugs, get him some goddamn rehab. If the man got mental health issues, get him some therapy,” he said.
“But you not just gon’ sit here and shoot this girl, and we not say nothin’. This shit not real. Nobody’s talking about it because it’s a Black woman… put your hands on Lady Gaga and see how quick they lock your ass up.”
September 9, 2020
TMZ reports that texts allegedly coming from Lanez show that the singer apologized to Megan while she was in the hospital. "I know u prolly never gone talk to me again, but I genuinely want u to know I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart,” read the texts. He also blamed his actions on being “too drunk.”
September 25, 2020
Lanez releases his album Daystar where he finally addresses the allegations that he shot Megan. In his song “Money Over Fallouts,” he raps lyrics like, “How the fuck you get shot in your foot, don’t hit no bones or tendons?” and “If you got shot from behind how can you identify me?”
September 29, 2020
Billboard reports that Lanez’s team posed as members of Megan’s team to plant stories that made Megan look less credible including fake text messages. Lanez’s team denies the claims.
October 3, 2020
Megan performs on Saturday Night Live as a musical guest and she stops mid-performance to share a message about supporting Black women. "We need to protect our Black women and love our Black women, 'cause at the end of the day, we need our Black women,” she preached.
October 8, 2020
Lanez was officially charged with one count of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and one count of carrying a loaded, concealed firearm in a vehicle.
October 13, 2020
Megan writes an op-ed for The New York Times titled “Why I Speak Up for Black Women.” The article states: “I was recently the victim of an act of violence by a man. After a party, I was shot twice as I walked away from him. We were not in a relationship. Truthfully, I was shocked that I ended up in that place.
My initial silence about what happened was out of fear for myself and my friends. Even as a victim, I have been met with skepticism and judgment. The way people have publicly questioned and debated whether I played a role in my own violent assault proves that my fears about discussing what happened were, unfortunately, warranted.”
October 20, 2020
Lanez gets on IG live to discuss the aftermath of the shooting and says that he still considers Megan to be a friend even if she doesn’t but that “I know what happened, and what you’re saying, what the alleged things and the alleged accusations of my name is, are not true. It’s falsified information. It’s false information.”
Megan responded on Twitter saying: “This Nigga genuinely crazy.”
November 18, 2020
Lanez pleads not guilty to both charges.
November 20, 2020
Megan’s debut album Good News is released where she addresses the shooting in the intro song “Shots Fired” with lines like “Imagine niggas lyin' 'bout shootin' a real bitch (huh?) Just to save face for rapper niggas you chill with.”
November 26, 2020
Kelsey Nicole (L) and Megan Thee Stallion (R).
Screenshot from Megan Thee Stallion's "Realer" music video/ YouTube
The “Savage” artist’s former friend Kelsey Nicole, who was one of the passengers in the car the night of the shooting, released a diss track to Megan titled “Bussin Back” where she rapped “Never been a jealous friend and the people really know it/If you would'vе kept it silent then I would'vе been told it/ See I really thought I knew you, thought that you would keep it G/ If you wanna talk gangsta, bitch, I'm really from the street.”
The former besties fell out following the shooting.
December 9, 2020
Rapper Jack Harlow responds to criticism of keeping Lanez on the remix of his hit song “What’s Poppin’” during an interview with Power 106. "I don't think I'm God. I don't have no room to judge anybody,” he said. “I wasn't there when this and that happened, I don't know anything."
January 21, 2021
The Source falsely reported that Megan dropped the charges against Lanez. The Canadian-born rapper’s representative came out and disputed the claims. Megan took to Twitter and said “Y’all can’t tell when shit fake news?”
February 2, 2021
“Buss It” artist Erica Banks goes on IG live with Lanez, a move many people think was an attempt to antagonize Megan since Banks is signed to the same record label that she’s currently going through legal battles with since March 2020.
June 21, 2021
Megan got into a Twitter feud with rapper and frequent collaborator DaBaby after he worked with Lanez on a new song. “Support me in private and publicly do something different…these industry men are very strange. This situation ain’t no damn “beef” and I really wish people would stop down playing it like it’s some internet shit for likes and retweets,” she tweeted.
July 20, 2021
Lanez mentioned Megan in his freestyle on Hot 97 “Megan people trying to frame me for a shooting/But them boys ain’t clean enough.”
July 25, 2021
Tory Lanez (L) and DaBaby (R) performing at Rolling Loud in Miami.
Jason Koerner/Getty Images
DaBaby brings out Lanez during his Rolling Loud performance, a move that was a violation of Megan’s protective order that required the “Jerry Sprunger” singer to stay 100 ft away from her. Lanez’s bail amount increased after the violation.
August 13, 2021
Prosecutors have filed a motion to hold Lanez in contempt for violating the restraining order that was issued in his ongoing criminal case.
December 15, 2021
A judge upholds Lanez’s charges after an LAPD officer testified that he shouted “Dance, bitch!” before allegedly shooting the “Pressurelicious” artist.
February 22, 2022
Megan posts screenshots of alleged text messages on social media from what appears to be Lanez apologizing to her after the shooting; a move that was in response to him seemingly subtweeting her by writing "u can't buy and tweet your way out of this one ..not today."
March 21, 2022
Popular hip-hop blogger DJ Akademics tweeted and deleted a claim that Lanez’s DNA was not found on the weapon in the case. Megan responded on her Instagram stories saying “court ain’t even started so why yall ready to start lying.”
April 4, 2022
Lanez is arrested for violating a protective order after tweeting about Megan back in February. He was released on a $350,000 bond.
April 24, 2022
Megan appeared on CBS This Morningspeaking with Gayle King about the shooting and the events following it.
April 26, 2022
50 Cent took to Instagram to cast doubt on Megan after she said that she wasn’t in a sexual relationship with the “Luv” singer. “Now that I don’t believe, she had to think about her answer. SMH all this shit is crazy,” 50 said.
June 15, 2022
In her Rolling Stone cover, Megan addresses the shooting saying that she wants Lanez to “go under the jail,” and that “I thought everyone in the car was my friend, [and] the whole time that’s not how they thought of me.”
August 24, 2022
Lanez's lawyer drops him as a client, citing “irreconcilable differences.” The lawyer had been defending Lanez against assault allegations made by Love and Hip-Hop: Miami cast member Prince.
October 31, 2022
A judge in Los Angeles ruled that Lanez had to be placed on house arrest until the trial after Lanez was found in violation of his parole due to allegedly assaulting August Alsina in September.
November 4, 2022
On his collab album Her Loss with 21 Savage, Drake raps in the song “Circo Loco,” “This bitch lie 'bout gettin shots but she still a stallion/ She don't even get the joke but she still smilin'” a line that many people think is in reference to Megan.
The H-town rapper responded to the lyric by tweeting, “I know I’m very popular but y’all gotta stop attaching weak ass conspiracy theories in bars to my name lol Niggas nor hoes EVER address me or @ me WITH a fact or receipts. I AM CLOUT BITCH keep sucking my pussy.”
November 5, 2022
Rapper Lil Yachty — who co-wrote “Circo Loco” — said on Instagram live that the line was not a reference to Megan, but to girls who get butt injections.
November 11, 2022
An open letter signed by representative Maxine Waters, Me Too founder Tarana Burke, host Marc Lamont Hill, and other community figures was released in support of Megan saying in part “You are believed, loved, and supported.”
The trial against Lanez for assault and weapons charges begins Monday, November 28, 2022.
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"I met this person, who was a wonderful man, and he ended up being a global superstar," she said. "And really, after Black Panther came out, it did kind of happen overnight."
She added, "I can't believe that I was so lucky. I can't believe that I got to love this person, and I also got them to love me too."
Simone and Chadwick met after he completed filming the 2014 James Brown biopic Get Up. He was attending a James Brown tribute concert at the Hollywood Bowl, which is where she worked and the actor expressed interest in her.
"We were on the side of the stage at a certain point, and I guess he didn't know if I was really catching his hints. And he just kinda randomly just bent down and untied one of my shoelaces … as a little joke," she said laughing. "And I said, 'Oh, okay, so this is flirting, this is him flirting with me.' And then he got back down and said, 'Oh, I'm sorry.' He got back down, and he retied my shoelace."
The singer admitted she fell for the Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom star “pretty quick.” "He was so intentional," she said. "He did not go into anything with his eyes closed. And I knew that I could follow him off the edge of a cliff because he's got a plan, you know?"
"I think when I really realized that, it was like, 'Okay. This is it. We're not going anywhere. I'm in it. He's in it.'" She added, "He was just the smartest, most caring, most genuine, most just real, authentic, truth in everything -- like nobody that I had ever met."
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
The two got married in 2018, two years after he was diagnosed with stage III colon cancer. When he died, his cancer progressed to stage IV, which was when the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown began. The Golden Globe winner decided to keep his battle with cancer private.
"That meant that everybody was in their house, and there was no pressure for anybody to go outside, or go to a meeting, or be seen," she said. "… As much as that [was] just such an awful time in the world, it seemed like, 'Is this a crazy coincidence that we get to actually be inside?' We get to be here with family… together."
She added. "Everybody in the world is also experiencing this togetherness in the midst of this awful, scary, unpredictable time, so it really reduced, I think, that risk of -- you have to be out, you have to go do this … It reduced that for us."
Simone has spoken on the impact Chadwick has had on her as well as others and she hopes to continue sharing his legacy with the world. Before he passed, the 42 actor expressed that he wanted to create a foundation for students in the arts. While the foundation is still in its early stages, Chadwick was still able to help young people thanks to his alma mater Howard University. The HBCU renamed its fine arts program the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts and they even established a scholarship in his honor.
"I can't believe that I was so lucky," she said. "I can't believe that I got to love this person and I also got them to love me too. Sure, he was an actor and that was -- there was a lot of fun stuff that we got to do. But he was an artist."
"He was an artist, and he was a leader and he was a king. And that I got to be by his side for that -- that he chose me to be by his side for that is just -- it's the greatest blessing,” she continued. “Even with the pain of his loss, now I still get to have this beautiful spirit relationship with him. And that, while it's difficult to accept, is also beautiful because he's an ancestor now. He is and he is never leaving me."
Chadwick Boseman’s Widow Breaks Her Silence in Exclusive 1st Interview l GMA
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