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Megan Thee Stallion is taking a break from music to work on her mental health less than one year after her sophomore album, Traumazine, debuted. “The music and entertainment industry can be a grind, so it’s important to take time off and avoid burning out,” she told InStyle in an interview published on Tuesday, May 30. “Life is all about balance.” She added that healing for her looks like catching up on her favorite shows, spending time with her dogs, and working on her fitness.
Fans shouldn’t worry, though; Megan, 28, said there will be music in the future. “Fans can expect new music when I’m in a better place,” she noted. “Right now, I’m focused on healing.”
As fans know, the “Sweetest Pie” hitmaker hasn’t had it easy the last few years. Megan is rumored to have split from her longtime boyfriend, Pardison “Pardi” Fontaine, and then struck up a romance with soccer pro Romelu Lukaku. And before that, she was dealing with the aftermath of being shot at a Los Angeles party by her former friend, rapper Tory Lanez. Tory, 30, was found guilty of three charges related to the July 2020 shooting in Dec. 2022. He is currently facing up to 22 years in prison, according to Billboard.
During the trial, Megan gave an emotional testimony as she accused the Canadian rapper of getting mad at her for not dancing with him. “I started walking away and I hear Tory yell, ‘Dance, b****,” she recalled. “I froze. I just felt shock. I felt hurt. I looked down at my feet and I see all of this blood.”
She candidly spoke about the scary experience, how it affected her, and her healing journey in an essay she penned for ELLE‘s May 2023 issue. “I don’t want to call myself a victim. As I reflect on the past three years, I view myself as a survivor, because I have truly survived the unimaginable,” she wrote. “Not only did I survive being shot by someone I trusted and considered a close friend, but I overcame the public humiliation of having my name and reputation dragged through the mud by that individual for the world to see.”
“I could have let the adversity break me, but I persevered, even as people treated my trauma like a running joke,” she continued before sharing examples of how many people made a laughing matter of such a serious situation. “Instead of condemning any form of violence against a woman, these individuals tried to justify my attacker’s actions,” she added.
Megan then openly admitted that the whole situation took a much deeper toll on her than many were led to believe. “Many thought I was inexplicably healed because I was still smiling through the pain, still posting on social media, still performing, still dancing, and still releasing music,” she wrote. “The truth is that I started falling into a depression. I didn’t feel like making music. I was in such a low place that I didn’t even know what I wanted to rap about. I wondered if people even cared anymore. There would be times that I’d literally be backstage or in my hotel, crying my eyes out, and then I’d have to pull Megan Pete together and be Megan Thee Stallion.”
The “Hot Girl Summer” rapper went on to share how she had been healing form such a traumatic time in her life. “These last few months, I’ve been healing after being in such a dark place. The physical and mental scars from this entire ordeal will always sting, but I’m taking the appropriate steps to resume my life,” she confidently stated. “I’ve spent the last few months off social media and taking time off for myself, spending time with my dogs, hanging out with my manager, Farris, and doing a lot of praying.”
She also said she’s working on setting boundaries and saying, “No,” to protect her mental health. “I’m putting myself first now because I know what I like, I know what I don’t like, I know what I’m not going to tolerate, and I know what I can endure because I’ve been battle-tested for so long,” she explained. “I’m ready to show everybody that all the dirt they threw at me didn’t stick.”
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