Lira Galore pictured on her Instagram page.
After a sex tape leaked featuring Instagram model Lira Galore and NBA star Lance Stephenson, Galore took to Twitter to smash the haters. The day after the clip emerged, Galore tweeted, “Y’all never seen nobody suck d*** b4?? .. Everybody let’s relax.” Whether or not Stephenson and Galore were dating at the time of the clip is unknown. The video shows Galore performing oral sex on the Minnesota Timberwolves star. In the past, Galore has been linked to Justin Bieber and Drake while she was also engaged to Rick Ross.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. In May 2016, Galore’s Celebrity DMs Were Hacked & Leaked
This isn’t the first time that some of Galore’s more personal moments have been leaked online. In May 2016, her private direct messages on Twitter were hacked and spread online. The messages were to actor Mike Epps and rapper Yo Gotti. Epps is married to actress Mechelle McCain but had filed for divorce a few months earlier. One of the messages between him and Galore mentioned the two booking a hotel room together. You can read the Epps messages here via BET.
Later, Galore denied the hacking tweeting, “YOU ALL GOT PRANKED. My friends recording outside actually.”
2. Galore Described Her Engagement to Rick Ross as ‘Toxic’
Galore appeared on Iyanla Vanzant’s show Fix My Life on the Oprah network in September 2016. She discussed her engagement to rapper Rick Ross calling it “toxic.” Galore then took aim at black men in general saying, “I’m angry because I want out black men to value us and they don’t.” A BET report on the appearance mentioned the backlash that Galore suffered on Twitter given her history as a stripper.
Ross proposed to Galore in a jewelry store in New York City. She explained how it happened to XXL Magazine, “I always thought when someone proposed to me, I would cry. But I was so happy, I couldn’t cry. I was emotional but I was happy. He was very sweet about it. It was a surprise. I thought I was going to get a new watch or something. But it was all planned out.”
Galore went on to talk about what she learned from her relationship with Ross saying, “Pay more attention to the signs that are there. And definitely continue to work because I stopped working when I got with him. So, definitely, always continue to work to be able to support myself and stand on my own two feet. And to pay attention to the signs that are there.”
In a separate interview with Global Grind, Galore discussed her time with Ross, “This was my first time in a public relationship, so I was happy about putting it out there. But people on social media don’t like to see that type of stuff, so they dug up old stuff that didn’t matter.”
During their relationship, a tweet emerged from Galore that was posted in 2012 before the two had ever met. Galore guessed that her and Ross would one day get married. The couple had allegedly split over a photo of Galore and Meek Mill together at a club. Galore explained the break-up, “We just decided to go our separate ways. I’m 22 and this was my first time in love and I put it out there. I’m still in love with him, but some things don’t go as you would like them to go.”
3. Galore Graduated From High School With Honors & Bought Her First Car With Cash
A Fader feature on Galore describes the model growing up in Houston as Tylira Mercer. After graduating with honors and buying her first car, Mercer began working as a stripper. Galore says, “I had a goal: to make a certain amount of money and then get out. When I reached that goal, I was done.”
Galore told XXL Magazine that she had been working as a stripper since she was 18 years old. She says, “I started dancing when I was 18 and that’s kind of how I got into it. But I started doing photo shoots around that time. And then I stopped dancing and did more modeling.”
Galore added, “Dancing taught me a lot about money—how fast it comes and goes. It also teaches you a lot about saving money.” The interview concludes with Galore saying what “interests” her is, “Getting to the next level. Putting all my time and energy into myself and my career.”
4. Galore’s Father ‘Lived 3 Stoplights’ Away From Her Growing Up But He Never Visited
Galore explained her family life and upbringing on Fix My Life in September 2016. She talked about her parents being “young” and her father being too “immature” to be a dad. In tears, Galore said, “My dad lived three stoplights away from me, and he didn’t come and see me because he married a white woman and he was playing daddy to her kids.”
Galore goes on to talk about getting pregnant at 14, “I made a mistake at 14. I became sexually active, and my first time, I got pregnant.” This gave her father another chance to be there for her, a chance, Galore says, he didn’t take, “That was his chance to prove to me that he loved me, and he completely disowned me… I do have to forgive him. Miss Iyanla told me, until I do, I’ll run into men just like him.”
Galore’s sister, Anitra, died at the age of 29 in 2010.
5. Twitter Is Having Their Say on the Galore/Stephenson Sex Tape
Since June 2016, Stephenson has been a “single man.” Previously, he had been linked to singer K Michelle. While in the summer of 2010, just after he was drafted by the Indiana Pacers, Stephenson was accused of pushing his girlfriend down a flight of stairs. The charges were later dropped.
As with any sex tape scandal, both Galore and Stephenson are being tried in the court of Twitter opinion:
Rick ross looking at this Lira Galore tape like
Lira Galore got a sex tape 🤔 Water is wet the sky is blue and birds can fly 😊 idk why mfs shocked