Who is Shawn Holley? She is the former attorney for Tory Lanez, who has addressed the rapper’s recent accusations regarding her alleged involvement with JAY-Z’s Roc Nation to orchestrate his incarceration.
Lanez’s interesting claims stem from his ongoing legal battles, particularly surrounding the conviction for shooting Megan Thee Stallion, which he discussed in his latest album Peterson recorded during his prison time.
Get this: in the track on the Peterson album, Lanez makes a series of bold allegations about Holley’s role during his trial. He criticizes her for stepping down midway through the December 2022 proceedings, accusing her of covertly working with the opposing side. “Trial lawyer left me like she Kevin Liles / She was in bed with my opposition like wedding vows,” Lanez raps, further adding, “Shawn Holley, that’s a name I would call special / Only a special person could rep you and wanna dead you / Go to your DNA expert and say don’t test you / You fully excluded but inconclusive is what she tells you.”
Get this, as expected, Lanez also reflects on his legal situation, rapping about the plea offers made to him during the trial: “The DA’s first offer was nine years / The second, it was six at eight-five, about five years / My lawyer keep on pressing me to take it, I’m like, ‘Nah’ / I ain’t do the crime so I’ma sit it down right here / She’s losing my bail hearings, I feel like it’s on purpose.”
Continuing with his allegations, he claims that Holley had ulterior motives: “You did me dirty / Working for my accuser and working for me / All the information I gave her is at R-O-C / Y’all had my lawyer in y’all pocket, she circling T’s / And that’s why Megan always talked like jail was certain for me / It’s ’cause y’all paid for them 10 years, let’s keep it honest.”
Holley has firmly rejected Lanez’s claims, stating they have been thoroughly investigated. “Mr. Peterson’s claims have been investigated thoroughly by the State Bar and proven — on two separate occasions — to be meritless,” Holley stated in a public statement. “His own representative has acknowledged to me that he is making these knowingly false claims in a desperate attempt to say or do anything he can to get out of prison.”
Here’s the thing: she also emphasized her loyalty throughout the legal proceedings: “Again, I have never had any relationship or connection to Roc Nation, and my loyalty throughout the time I represented Mr. Peterson was only to him. Finally, Mr. Peterson asked me to step down as his counsel when I refused to advance the defense he wanted to put forth. He is now sitting in prison, having used that defense in his trial. Maybe he should have listened to me.”
What’s more, in another notable interesting development, Lanez responded to allegations from Megan Thee Stallion that he has been targeting her from prison. Megan’s claims played a significant role in her securing a five-year restraining order against the rapper. On his track “My Shayla,” Lanez raps, “My haters spiraling these days, so don’t shit amaze me / But restraining orders in prison? Yo, that shit is crazy / What more do n-ggas want from me like Tyreese when he said it in that one video, crying on his knees? / I guess taking me from my seven-year-old son wasn’t enough for you to breathe.”
Lanez further responds through his lyrics, “All of a sudden, I’m harassing from a cell as if I made every profile page on Reddit myself / They tried to paint me like I’m obsessed / Got all her pictures the wall with a big wax head on my shelf / It’s time to get over yourself, nobody even thinkin’ about this shit, get over yourself.”
The song also touches on Megan’s legal battles with blogger Milagro Gramz, allegedly paid by Lanez’s team to fabricate stories about her. Additionally, Lanez references court reporter Meghann Cuniff, who covered the shooting trial in depth. He raps, “Roc Nation comin’ for Milagro, that’s really funny / Even more, they tryna find ways to relate it to me / If I was petty I would countersue ’cause I got evidence / Meghann Cuniff been on payroll to play a dummy.”
Cuniff quickly responded to Lanez’s claims, writing on X (formerly Twitter), “I’m glad he pronounced my name correctly.”