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Shannon Sharpe Megan Thee Stallion.jpg

Shannon Sharpe Interviews Megan Thee Stallion, And Apologizes For Past Remarks

By Brian Richards | Celebrity | July 3, 2024 |

By Brian Richards | Celebrity | July 3, 2024 |

Shannon Sharpe Megan Thee Stallion.jpg

The last couple of months have been quite good for Megan Thee Stallion. Her Hot Girl Summer Tour launched in May, with GloRilla as the opening act for her North American shows, which have been sold out, with millions of fans coming to express their love and support. Her newest album, Megan, was recently released to positive reviews, with some critics calling it the best work of her career. This past weekend, Megan was the opening act at the BET Awards, where she performed “Hiss,” her diss track aimed at Drake and Nicki Minaj, followed by “Boa” and “Where Them Girls At.”

So when Shannon Sharpe announced this past weekend that he had interviewed Megan Thee Stallion for his Club Shay Shay podcast, people weren’t shy in letting it be known that they weren’t looking forward to it, and that this interview shouldn’t even be happening in the first place.

There were the usual complaints about Shannon being a horrible interviewer, and not having the range to ask the right questions, and not really listening to what his guests are saying so that he could ask better questions. But what fans of Megan Thee Stallion did not want was for Shannon to go the DARVO route by asking questions, and saying a bunch of things, where Megan is thrown under the bus in defense of Tory Lanez, the anonymous f-ckboys and Pick-Mes on social media saying horrible things about her, and other rappers cracking jokes and spitting lyrics in their songs about Tory Lanez shooting her.

Fortunately for Megan, and for those who watched on YouTube when it premiered this past Monday, the interview went smoothly, and was not the unwatchable catastrof-ck that fans expected it to be. Before the conversation started, after Shannon introduced Megan and read off a list of her impressive accomplishments, he apologized to her for making overly sexual remarks about her on his Nightcap podcast with Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson last year, which were meant to be jokes, but as it turned out, not everyone thought his jokes were funny.

Megan expressed how happy and grateful she is to see that her Hot Girl Summer Tour is so successful and popular with fans, including celebrities like Taraji P. Henson and Gabrielle Union. She also expressed her views on friendship and authenticity, and whether she can tell if someone can be trusted to be the type of person who will have her back.

Megan also shared her excitement and gratitude for the fact that the late, great rapper Pimp C will have an unreleased verse on Megan’s album, and that his widow, Chinara Butler, permitted Megan to make this happen. Megan also discussed her reluctance to discuss which other artists would be featured on her upcoming album due to past leaks, but she was willing to admit that one of those artists was R&B singer Victoria Monét.

One of the biggest things that Megan accomplished was becoming a fully independent artist after she parted ways with her former record label, 1501 Certified Entertainment. After she filed a lawsuit against them, due to her claims that they were preventing her from releasing new music, the two reached a mutual and confidential settlement that brought satisfaction to both sides. So of course, the question came up as to how it feels for Megan to be independent in the music game, and be her own boss.

Shannon also asked Megan how “W.A.P.” with Cardi B became the controversial hit that it is today.

She also answered how it felt when she first met her fellow H-Town Hot Girl, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, and when she met Beyoncé’s daughter, Blue Ivy.

How does Megan keep her head up, and maintain a positive outlook, despite the trolls harassing and talking sh-t about her on and off social media?

The rest of the interview touched on several other topics: Megan revealing the best gift she has ever received, her first interaction with Lil’ Kim, what she bought with her first big check after her student loans were paid off in full, which rapper was her biggest inspiration, Beyoncé inspiring her to start her own brand of tequila, and how one studio session ended badly due to someone having the nerve, the cheek, the audacity, the gumption, and the gall to question her accent.

Once the interview aired, there were many responses on social media, as to be expected. Some were appreciative of Shannon starting immediately with an apology to Megan, and that his apology to her was just as loud and public as his disrespect. Some felt that Megan had no business being on his podcast in the first place, not because they hold Shannon in low regard, but because they feel that way about Megan ever since she spoke out against Tory Lanez and had him sent to prison, which now makes her a liar who cannot be trusted. Others didn’t like that Shannon apologized to Megan, and called him a simp for doing so. Most fans were just happy and relieved that Shannon kept both feet out of his mouth, and didn’t say anything that would result in the conversation ending up like his interview with Amanda Seales.

Before anyone pipes up with the “Well, Actually…” about Megan being named in a lawsuit by her former cameraman for harassment and for creating an unsafe work environment that included him being trapped in a moving vehicle while she was having sex with a woman in his presence, and wonders why that isn’t being discussed or touched upon in this article? Neither Megan nor Shannon brought up the lawsuit or the accusations at any time during the interview. As for recent developments as to what is happening with that case?

From Vulture:

April 24, 2024: Megan Thee Stallion responded to the harassment lawsuit filed against her through a lawyer on April 23. Emilio Garcia, former cameraman for the rapper, alleges he was forced to watch the rapper have sex in a moving vehicle, among other complaints in the suit. “This is an employment claim for money — with no sexual harassment claim filed and with salacious accusations to attempt to embarrass her,” Megan’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, told “Page Six.” “We will deal with this in court.” Garcia sued the Grammy-award winning artist citing a hostile work environment, harassment, and multiple labor code violations. Her label, Roc Nation; Hot Girl Touring; and her management company are also named in the lawsuit.

“Such harassment was so severe or pervasive that it altered the terms and conditions of Plaintiff’s employment, creating a hostile, abusive work environment and making his working conditions intolerable,” the lawsuit reads, according to documents obtained by Vulture. Garcia worked with Megan from 2018 until he was fired in June 2023. His attorney say it was “direct retaliation for his complaints,” “Page Six” reported.

Garcia alleges he was trapped in a moving SUV when Megan and a woman began to have sex in Spain in June 2022, according to the lawsuit. He claims he felt traumatized by the ordeal and was instructed by the rapper “don’t ever discuss what you saw” when she learned he was present in the vehicle. Elsewhere in the filing, Megan is accused of berating and fat-shaming Garcia, failing to pay him commensurately with his work “during all waking hours of the day,” and switching to a “pay-per-task” invoicing system that “significantly” reduced his overall salary. The former cameraman said the “toxic work environment” left him with “mounting anxiety, depression, and physical distress,” according to the filing.

May 30, 2024: Megan Thee Stallion’s legal team has issued a formal denial of her ex-cameraman Emilio Garcia’s allegations of harassment and labor code violations. In a new court filing obtained by Rolling Stone and Billboard, lawyers Mari Henderson and Alex Spiro said Garcia’s lawsuit “consists almost entirely of falsehoods, misrepresentations of fact, and outlandish claims that have no basis in fact or law and no merit.” If that wasn’t strong enough, they went on to describe him as a “con artist who is manipulating the judicial system to act as his publicist and bullhorn in a desperate attempt to boost his failed singing career.”

The lawyers claim that Megan fired Garcia in June 2023 because he had a pattern of falsifying invoices, overcharging for services he didn’t complete, and asking for reimbursement for purchases he didn’t make. Allegedly, Garcia, mad about losing his job, then filed his “factually and legally frivolous” lawsuit. His complaint includes allegations that he was not paid commensurately, was fat-shamed and berated by Megan, and was forced to watch her have sex in a moving vehicle. Megan’s lawyers are suggesting that Garcia “took a run of the mill wage and labor dispute and trumped up his frivolous claims with sensationalist false allegations of sex, debauchery, and workplace harassment for the sole purpose of creating a media firestorm to tarnish [Megan’s] career and reputation.”

From court reporter Meghann Cuniff’s article on her website:

Lawyers for rapper Megan Thee Stallion are asking a California federal judge to dismiss her a defendant in a lawsuit from her former photographer. They also want the case transferred to New York and say she’ll have to reschedule concert tour dates if it isn’t.

A motion filed Tuesday says Emilio Garcia’s lawsuit has no legitimate ties to California and should be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

“This case involves an alleged incident that occurred out of the country, an out-of-state plaintiff, and an out-of-state defendant with no minimum contacts with California,” according to the 24-page motion from Mari F. Henderson, Julian T. Schoen and Alex Spiro of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP.

Megan is a resident of Miami, Florida, who does not own property in California. “Ms. Pete regularly performs both national and international tour dates in cities such as New York, Memphis, Denver, Tokyo, London, Berlin, Paris, Rio De Janeiro, and many others,” the motion says, referring to Megan’s legal name, Megan Pete. Of her 45 tour dates in 2022, four were in California.

If a judge dismisses Megan as a defendant because of lack of jurisdiction, the order likely will allow for the claims to be re-filed against her in New York. Her lawyers are expected to seek permanent dismissal over the merits of the claims at a later date.

You can listen to the complete interview on the Club Shay Shay podcast, or watch it on YouTube.