BY: Walker
Published 3 years ago
The accolades continue to pour in for Megan Thee Stallion. The Houston rapper was recently recognized by Glamour magazine as the publication Woman of the Year, but that honor didn’t just end with a photoshoot and cover feature. Glamour also hosted a special event for Megan where the rapper was bestowed her honor by none other than Pepa from Salt-N-Pepa.
via: People
On Monday, the rap star, 26, was honored with the 2021 Glamour Woman of the Year Award at the Rainbow Room in New York City. Taking the stage to accept the honor, Megan tearfully praised the two women who helped her achieve success: her late mother and late great-grandmother, affectionately known as “big momma.”
“I am truly humbled to be in such incredible company,” Megan began. “I really want to thank my mom,” she said, pausing as tears streamed down her face. “I want to thank my mom because she taught me how to be the woman that I am.”
The rapper’s mom, Holly Thomas — who was an artist herself — died in March 2019 after battling brain cancer.
“She was my best friend, my manager, she was my everything, and I know she’s proud of me today,” Megan said. The hitmaker went on to pay tribute to her great-grandmother, who died just two weeks after Thomas. Megan shared that the matriarch was proud of her thriving music career, but stressed the importance of education.
“She was like, ‘Megan I don’t give a damn how many songs you write as long as you get that degree,’ ” she recalled fondly. “So, I said, ‘You know what, I don’t give a damn how many songs I write, I’m going to stay in school because I know my mom and my big momma are watching me and that’s what they would want me to do.'”
Megan will graduate from Texas Southern University on Dec. 11 with a B.A. in health administration.
While her mother and great-grandmother are no longer with her, the star said she feels their “presence around me every day.”
“They filled me with self-love and determination,” she explained. “Because of them, I never felt unworthy of my success and my womanhood. Because of them, I’ve learned to be competitive with myself and that other women don’t need to lose for me to win.”
In addition to dedicating the award to her late loved ones, Megan took the opportunity to celebrate herself.
“I win a lot of awards as Megan Thee Stallion, but tonight I choose to accept this award as Megan Pete. A soon-to-be college graduate from Houston, a woman who has built a successful career in a male dominated industry, who has earned her respect from people that couldn’t look beyond my public persona,” she said.
Wrapping her remarks, Megan asserted that “there’s nothing women can’t achieve when we realize there can be more than one female scientist, scholar, poet or rapper. There’s room at the table for all of us, and when there isn’t, we need to make room.”
In addition to moving the audience to tears, the “Savage” rapper got attendees giggling with a sweet appearance from her boyfriend and fellow artist Pardison Fontaine.
Fontaine, 31, adorably rushed the stage to give Megan a tissue when she wept during her speech. Afterwards, Megan joked that he was more excited about meeting Christopher Meloni and Mariska Hargitay — who was also honored at the event.
“Shoutout Law & Order,” Megan said.
Last month, Megan and Fontaine celebrated a romantic milestone: their first anniversary.
The three-time Grammy winner marked the occasion on social media, writing in the caption: “1 year of fun with you.”
Megan also included several photos from throughout their relationship, including pictures from getaway trips, events and bathroom selfies.
Fontaine marked the special day on his Instagram Story, writing, “Today’s our anniversary… stay tuned” atop a video of himself dancing in front of a mirror.
Watch clips of Meg’s introduction and speech below.
“I’ve won a lot of awards as Megan Thee Stallion, but I choose to accept this award as Megan Pete, a soon-to-be college graduate from Houston, a woman who has built a successful career in a male-dominated industry and musical genre…” — @theestallion pic.twitter.com/UCdF4ZuLjX
— Glamour (@glamourmag) November 9, 2021
Megan Thee Stallion and Pepa from Salt-N-Pepa tonight at the 2021 Glamour Women of the Year awards. pic.twitter.com/xqviqb3VaI
— Stallion Access (@stallionaccess) November 9, 2021