Last Thanksgiving, Megan Thee Stallion labored for days to prepare an elaborate holiday dinner for then-boyfriend Klay Thompson and his family. We know this because she showed her work in a social media reel, describing how she simmered her greens overnight before whipping up her homemade dressing, barbecue baked beans, macaroni and cheese and roasting a turkey. Somehow, she also found time to film herself doing her hair and makeup flawlessly.
“I was really nervous, because I was like, ‘Dang, I’m really fittin’ to cook for my man and his whole family,’” she admits in that post. “I hope they love this because I got to show them that I really love their son!”
In the days since the Grammy award-winner tersely announced her breakup with Thompson in an Instagram story, that post resurfaced on social media along with others: Megan serving Thompson a plate of spaghetti and catfish, Thompson arriving late to pick her up at the airport, bearing a bouquet of flowers. Every relationship scene was an episode of the #Klaygan show, supposedly proving that true love is still possible.
But that dinner, more than anything else, adds a hardened glaze of insult to Megan’s allegation that Thompson cheated on her. “Had me around your whole family playing house, got ‘cold feet,’” she posted in an Instagram story on Saturday. “Holding you down through all your HORRIBLE mood swings and treatment towards me during your basketball season, now you don’t know if you can be ‘monogamous????’”
(XNY/Star Max/GC Images/Getty Images) Megan Thee Stallion and Klay Thompson
There are famous breakups, and there are ones that upset the universe’s parasocial order. This belongs to that second category. But it’s also somewhat singular because of who Thompson is and what Megan symbolizes. Megan Thee Stallion is a pop culture phenomenon — a hip-hop queen, sex symbol and confidence avatar. Thompson, a shooting guard for the Dallas Mavericks, is an NBA star who once played on the Golden State Warriors beside league legend Steph Curry. He’s also the son of two-time NBA champion Mychal George Thompson and part of a family of star athletes.
The hip-hop industry is sexist, but the sports world takes sexism to a whole different level. It’s baked into everything from the visible pay disparities between men’s leagues and women’s to the overt harassment female sports reporters deal with from athletes, team executives and their co-workers. Players’ wives and girlfriends are painted as gold diggers. The so-called “good” ones supposedly remain silent about their partners’ indiscretions, while those who publicize their misdeeds are painted as thankless harpies. And this is what’s playing out in the manosphere now that Megan has changed her relationship status.
The “Savage” artist’s popularity and self-assured aura make her a convenient lightning rod for misogynists at the best of times. We saw that in 2020, after fellow rapper Tory Lanez shot her in both feet as she left a party. Lanez, whose real name is Daystar Peterson, was eventually found guilty of that crime in Dec. 2022 and was sentenced to 10 years in jail. But Megan didn’t name him as her assailant at first. When she did, she was maliciously disbelieved and ridiculed by the likes of Drake and 50 Cent. Megan successfully sued a blogger, Milagro Cooper, for defamation, harassment and sharing sexually explicit deep fakes purporting to feature her.
The star has since been open about the damage that chapter wreaked on her mental health, which drew more fans to her side. Indeed, her supporters are much louder right now than Thompson’s. To them, this is another instance of Megan overcoming the disrespect of someone who doesn’t deserve her.
That same show of strength makes her a convenient magnet for misogynoir.
There are famous breakups, and there are ones that upset the universe’s parasocial order. This belongs to that second category. But it’s also somewhat singular because of who Thompson is and what Megan symbolizes.
The men taking aim at Megan, and it is mostly men, mock her supposedly ludicrous expectation that any man with a multimillion-dollar net worth would remain monogamous. The foremost edgelords preach that collecting sexual conquests is a man’s right, especially once he’s gained fame and a fortune. In fact, podcaster DJ Akademiks is part of a band of online Cro-Magnons celebrating the allegation that Thompson cheated on Megan. “Shordy said monogamy . . . man cut it out. Klay ain’t win 4 rings for nothing!” he posted on X. “She thought she was the 5th ring . . . aww hell naw . . . who u think u r . . . Ayesha?”
He’s referring to Golden State Warriors player Steph Curry’s wife, Ayesha, although it’s not as if he respects that woman, either. But at least DJ Akademiks, whose mother named him Livingston George Allen, has company in this cave. On his show “Straight Shooter,” ESPN announcer Stephen A. Smith opined that Megan should have kept her mouth shut.
“How come you couldn’t just say, ‘We had our time together, but I’m back being single again’ . . . and leave it at that?” he added. “Why we gotta dog the brother out?”
Later, he added, “These women just chirp, chirp, chirping all over the damn place, telling everybody. Like you on ‘The View.’ Or you looking for an interview with Oprah or Gayle King. Or, God help us, Iyanla Vanzant . . . Megan Thee Stallion, why?”
(Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) Megan Thee Stallion
People who remember that internet smear campaign related to the Lanez case know why. Megan Thee Stallion, like most pop stars, chronicles every major development in her life on her social media feed. And the frenzy she faced seems to have taught her the importance of directing as much of any bad news narrative in her life as quickly as possible, and that staying quiet can leave her equally as open to reputational harm as aggressive candor.
It should not escape notice that nobody penalized Taylor Swift or Lily Allen for publicizing their breakups. Allen made an entire album about the disintegration of her marriage to David Harbour. Most of Swift’s music catalog consists of singles about her exes. (Tread lightly, Travis Kelce.)
Another possible answer is that throughout their relationship, Megan publicly portrayed the role of feminine caretaker. She cooked for him, doted on him and snuggled in his arms during intimate dates. Thompson’s birthday present topped everything: he gave her a baby blue Bentley. We know all of this because both of them posted pics. What we weren’t privy to were those alleged mood swings she mentioned in her breakup post, part of the silent caretaking women perform alongside other household maintenance.
But some men really hated all that mush, especially the ones who despise successful, independent women — ones like Megan Thee Stallion. Which is odd, since many also counsel women that if they’d only wait on their husbands hand and foot, they’ll be rewarded with affection and gifts. Apparently, that’s only true of thousandaires.
Megan is also a multimillion-dollar earner with an array of branding deals; on her Instagram feed right now are promotional crossovers with Popeyes and Cheetos. Professionally speaking, she is thriving. Her recent history-making turn as the first woman to play Zidler in a Broadway production of “Moulin Rouge” earned mostly positive reviews. Rolling Stone, for example, called her “a sparkling diamond.”
People also loved her cameo in the Netflix movie “Roommates” and her guest star role in “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins,” in which she plays a postal worker who has a tryst with a documentary filmmaker, played by Daniel Radcliffe.
None of that matters.
Content producer Blair R. Minton posted a thoughtful video commentary on the type of hive mind masculinity aligning against Megan. “When you try to deviate away from that hive mind, you know, when you . . . don’t want to be, you know, confined by it, there are going to be other men that are going to see you as a traitor,” he observed.
If this influential hip-hop diva can’t avoid being dragged through the mud simply because she let the world know her basketball prince turned out to be a philandering frog, how secure should the rest of us feel?
Not to worry, he points out: the same manosphere bros who deemed Thompson soft or a simp for showering Megan with gifts are welcoming him back with open arms.
When women see that in action, it re-establishes the eternal truth that regardless of what they do, they cannot ever feel entirely safe — not in public and not in their relationships. Megan fought to reclaim her physical and psychological wellness in front of the world while defending her reputation in court. This breakup thrusts her into a public battle for her emotional security, and that would be the case regardless of whether she made it public.
All this is happening during a season rife with headlines about Black women dying from intimate violence, whether at the hands of their partners or family members. On April 19, for example, a Florida man fatally shot his 39-year-old stepdaughter after she suggested that he might say “excuse me” instead of expecting her to reflexively get out of his way.
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Stories like this may seem to have nothing to do with the end of #Klaygan, if you disregard the vile memes circulating, including one depicting Megan being sexually assaulted by a line of men. Dehumanizing jokes and images can tacitly signal permission to escalate to physical violence, and Black women are especially vulnerable targets. I’ve known my share of people who were encouraged to remain silent about the abuses they sustained from the men in their lives for the sake of protecting their “good” name. Staying quiet never worked out in their favor. But if this influential hip-hop diva can’t avoid being dragged through the mud simply because she let the world know her basketball prince turned out to be a philandering frog, how secure should the rest of us feel?
“Trust, fidelity and respect are non-negotiable for me in a relationship,” Megan said in an official statement, “and when those values are compromised, there’s no real path forward. I’m taking this time to prioritize myself and move ahead with peace and clarity.” As part of putting herself first, Megan bowed out of “Moulin Rouge” two weeks earlier than originally planned. Her run was supposed to end on May 17, but her final curtain call has shifted to Friday, May 1.
Some will see this as a retreat. Others can empathize with her urge to step out of the spotlight for the sake of her well-being. But at least for now, there appear to be fewer people wondering what hope any of us have since #Klaygan couldn’t make love work. Instead, some are wondering whether their dates are worthy of their efforts in the kitchen.
It’s never really about the dishes, though. Megan says it best: she’s been that, still that, and will forever be that woman most people can’t handle. She will bounce back, and although she isn’t obligated to, she will continue to exemplify resilience. That’s the part of this meal her haters can’t stomach.
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