A$AP Rocky embraces Rihanna after he is acquitted of shooting former friend
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Rakim Mayers (right), also known as A$AP Rocky, exits the court with his partner, pop star Rihanna (left), after he was found not guilty of shooting a former collaborator on Feb 18, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Jonathan Abrams
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LOS ANGELES – Grammy-nominated hip-hop artiste A$AP Rocky was found not guilty of shooting a former collaborator on Feb 18. The jury deliberated for nearly three hours in a case that threatened to derail the American rapper’s career.
Rocky, 36, born Rakim Mayers, faced two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon, stemming from an altercation with his one-time friend Terell Ephron, a rapper known as A$AP Relli, near a Hollywood hotel in 2021.
Rocky dived into the gallery to hug his family – including Barbadian pop star and beauty mogul Rihanna, who is the mother of his two young sons
“Thank y’all for saving my life,” he told jurors.
Rihanna, 36, also celebrated the acquittal with an Instagram Story later that day, which read: “The glory belongs to God and God alone. Thankful, humbled by his mercy.”
The trial hinged on jurors’ assessment of the gun used in the incident, which prosecutors said was a semi-automatic firearm. Witnesses for the defence testified that it was instead a prop gun acquired at the filming of a music video.
No gun was presented as evidence in the trial and Rocky did not take the stand in his defence. He faced up to 24 years in prison if convicted of both counts.
Rocky faced trial at a time when he had several notable projects in the works. He is scheduled to be one of the headliners of the Los Angeles stop of the Rolling Loud festival in March, and was announced as one of the celebrity chairs for the Met Gala, to be held in May.
He also stars alongside Hollywood actor Denzel Washington in a Spike Lee-directed movie titled Highest 2 Lowest, which is scheduled to open later in 2025.
The three-week trial was the culmination of a dispute between Relli and Rocky. The high-school friends once belonged to the same rap collective called A$AP (Always Strive and Prosper) Mob.
Mr Thomas Zizzo, a Los Angeles police sergeant and one of the first authorities to arrive on the scene after the incident, testified that it was difficult to determine whether a crime had taken place.
“Police failed to find the gun and that became the strongest point for the defence,” said Mr Sam Bassett, a Texas-based criminal defence attorney. NYTIMES
