A federal judge has reinstated a $75,000 jury verdict against blogger Milagro Gramz, also known as Milagro Cooper, in Megan Thee Stallion’s defamation case, saying Cooper was paid by Tory Lanez’s family to publish defamatory statements and therefore was not entitled to pre-suit notice protections. The ruling overturns an earlier decision that had reduced the award on procedural grounds and restores the full amount owed to Megan Thee Stallion, whose legal name is Megan Pete.
The case stems from a civil trial in Florida, where a jury found Cooper liable for defamation, emotional distress, and promotion of an altered sexual video involving Megan. Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga initially set aside the defamation portion of the verdict after determining Cooper could be treated as a media defendant, a classification that would have required Megan’s legal team to give advance notice before filing suit. Because that notice was not provided, the award was originally reduced from $75,000 to $59,000.
After reviewing the record again, the judge concluded that the media defendant protection did not apply to the specific statements at issue. The court found that Cooper was acting as a paid agent for Tory Lanez, whose legal name is Daystar Peterson, and his father, Sonstar Peterson. The ruling said the trial evidence showed Cooper received financial payments from Sonstar, had access to information from Lanez’s legal team before it reached mainstream media, and helped distribute materials supporting Lanez’s criminal defense.
The judge wrote that because Cooper was commissioned by the Peterson family to publish or broadcast the three defamatory statements, she was not entitled to pre-suit notice for those claims. The court said the ruling did not mean she could never be considered a media defendant in other contexts, only that she was not protected in connection with the statements the jury found defamatory.
The jury also found Cooper liable for intentionally inflicting emotional distress by helping spread a sexually explicit deepfake video of Megan online. According to the case record, Cooper used her social media platform to direct followers to the altered video, increasing its reach. The restored judgment includes $15,000 for defamation, $8,000 for emotional distress, $50,000 for promotion of the altered video, and $2,000 in punitive damages.
Megan testified that the harassment and public humiliation surrounding the deepfake video and the fallout from the 2020 shooting had a severe emotional impact. She said the abuse was so overwhelming that she considered suicide and later underwent extensive therapy to cope with the trauma, victim-blaming, and online attacks.
After the ruling, Megan praised the decision, saying the truth matters and that she was grateful for the court’s thorough review. She said she hoped the case would send a message that spreading lies and defamatory claims has consequences, and expressed a desire to finally close this chapter. Milagro Cooper’s team had not issued a public response at the time of the ruling.
