Megan Thee Stallion is unarguably one of the biggest and brightest megastars on the planet. Celebrity status comes public praise and scrutiny, along with the inconvenience of a global audience critiquing one’s every move and journey to maturation. For Megan Pete, the road to hip hop goddess was paved early on by the passion she witnessed in her mother. The only child of a former emcee, Megan was enchanted by her mother’s fascination with hip-hop. Like most children, impressing her mother was her pride and joy, so it wasn’t surprising when young Megan announced she wanted to be a rapper. Today, the early years of Megan Pete’s career are overshadowed by the enormity of Megan Thee Stallion’s global fame, but in directing Megan’s first documentary, Nneka Onuorah made it a point to highlight Megan’s journey from child prodigy, mentored and encouraged by her beloved mother/momager to the celebrated but often misunderstood as Megan Thee Stallion.

Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words, was different from most documentaries because of the weight it carried on Megan’s reputation. After being a part of one of the biggest violent scandals in hip hop, that resulted in Tory Lanez being arrested, tried and convicted with a ten-year prison sentence, the documentary was Megan’s first opportunity to share her perspective with fans and the hip-hop community. Nneka understood the responsibility she assumed when directing this project at such a pivotal moment in Megan’s career.

“I used a different approach to this film. Typically, I have a film crew that I direct to capture footage of the person, but for this project I decided to take that on personally, so I filmed a lot of intimate personal moments with Megan Pete in her actual real life when he was going through turmoil. I would ask her how she was doing or feeling, but I noticed there would be weeks that would go by and no one would ask her if she was ok. So I tried to use a camera to be a safe space and a visual diary to create a portrait of the emotional tension she was going through,” Nneka says.

Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Own Words Allows Fans to Get to Know Megan Pete

The result is a piece that allows fans an intimate look into Megan Pete’s personal life, separate from the sexy, brazen Amazonian icon that is Megan Thee Stallion. “It gave Megan an opportunity to express her feelings about the situation. Instead of having sit-down interviews like you see in other documentaries where you have other people speaking for you. I wanted to give the 1st person experience so you would hear Megan’s truth about her life,” Nneka explains.

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Megan’s personal truth comes across crystal clear, illustrating a young woman lost after her mother’s death and struggling to keep up with the success her hard work and talent have created. Unlike many documentaries, flashbacks to Megan’s early years aren’t showcased with alot of pictures and video. There are videos of her with her mother and of her early career, but the majority of her early years are illustrated with the use of anime; adding a different energy to her backstory. It was Megan’s love of anime that inspired Nneka to rely on the art form to paint a picture for audiences that wouldn’t have been captured with photos and videos alone. “I loved the idea of anime not only because Megan loves anime, and it was a great way to tell her story, but as a filmmaker it offered the ability to visualize struggle. Without anime, it would’ve been hard to capture her internal turmoil. So I used the anime scenes to capture the internal turmoil that was unspoken,” she shares.

Megan Thee Stallion Admits Lying to Gayle King In Her Documentary

Nneka believes the documentary served dual purposes in allowing fans to understand their sexy heroine, but it also acted as therapy for Megan. She acknowledged lying to Gayle King during her viral interview on CBS News in the documentary, but instead of simply admitting the lie, she shared her frustration at being asked about her personal sexual history when being questioned about a situation in which she was clearly the victim. “I didn’t do anything wrong. Why am I being asked about who I slept with? That’s not what this was supposed to be about,” Megan objected.

Overall, the documentary humanizes a young superstar with accolades and a lifestyle most would envy by showing a vulnerable side that clashes with Megan’s brash and overtly sexual lyrics. Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words reminds us that behind that celebrated exterior is a young woman struggling without the presence of the most important person in her life, her mother. The documentary shows Megan learning, growing and maturing under a magnifying glass that expects Megan Pete to be as impenetrable as Megan Thee Stallion. Nneka offered the truest form of sisterhood by extending Megan an opportunity to be herself, to be vulnerable and, most importantly, to breathe.

The documentary can be streamed on Prime Video.

Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words Release Date October 30, 2024 Director Nneka Onuorah Cast Megan Thee Stallion Runtime 112 minutes Producers Dave O’Connor , MacKenzie Hill , Ian Orefice , Desiree Perez , Loren Hammonds Character(s) Self Expand

Stream on Prime Video