As the sun rose over the City of Angels, a fresh scandal unfolded in the world of hip-hop. Acclaimed photographer Emilio Garcia, who spent several years behind the lens for star Megan Thee Stallion, filed an unsettling lawsuit against the musical powerhouse.
According to court documents, Garcia claimed that he was subjected to humiliating and emotionally distressing experiences while on duty. He accused the “Savage” rapper of forcing him to witness her engage in a sexual act while in an SUV traveling through the dark lanes of Ibiza, Spain, in 2022. Muffled by the foreign landscape, Garcia, who was captive in the moving vehicle, said he was left profoundly “embarrassed, mortified and offended” by the entire ordeal.
The legal storm ensnaring Megan Thee Stallion took on a fresh twist when Alex Spiro, her attorney, robustly refuted Garcia’s version of events. Spiro portrayed the lawsuit as a mere “employment claim for money” with no mention of sexual harassment. He emphasized that the plaintiff’s explicit allegations were a thinly veiled attempt to malign his client’s budding reputation.
In the lawsuit, Garcia further outlined his grievances against the hip-hop star. He claimed that Megan demanded secrecy around the intimate incident and subjected him to a torrent of verbal abuse. Allegedly, the rapper went as far as to body-shame him, exacerbating the already challenging conditions of his working environment. Garcia declared under the court’s scrutiny that he pondered resigning, citing he was overburdened and undercompensated in the volatile sphere of Megan’s excessiveness and hostility.
The photographer’s decision to raise these issues directly with Megan precipitated his abrupt termination, just a day later, marking the end of his four-year tenure with the rapper and triggering a job discrimination complaint submitted to the California Civil Rights Department.
The legal labyrinth expanded to include Megan Thee Stallion’s artistic empire, with the lawsuit naming her recording company, Megan Thee Stallion Entertainment, and her touring company, Hot Girl Touring, as co-defendants. Notably, Roc Nation, her record label, was implicated as well, though there has been no response from them as of yet.
The embattled photographer is seeking an undisclosed amount in damages, asserting that his wrongful termination, coupled with the traumatic SUV incident, cast a severe emotional and physical toll on him.
Megan Thee Stallion, 29, is no stranger to legal clashes. The rapper notably weathered a controversial trial in 2020 where she emerged as a victim of a shooting incident involving fellow rapper Tory Lanez. The adversity, however, did little to tarnish her meteoric rise in the music industry. From bagging a Grammy for the Best New Artist in 2021 to topping charts with singles like “Savage” featuring Beyoncé, the tattooed trailblazer has cemented her status as a formidable force in hip-hop.
