Rapper ASAP Rocky acquitted of assault charge over alleged Hollywood shooting
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ASAP Rocky has been acquitted of two counts of assault stemming from a 2021 Hollywood shooting, capping a monthlong trial marked by allegations of courtroom misconduct and frequent appearances by the defendant’s superstar paramour, Rihanna.
The verdict was read in front of a packed courtroom, including Rihanna, who Rocky leaped over a courtroom divider to hug as his supporters let out a loud roar when the court clerk read the words “not guilty.”
“Thank y’all for saving my life,” Rocky told the jury as they exited. “You’re making the right decision.”
Reporters and members of the public were jammed shoulder to shoulder in the ninth-floor courtroom. Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman also was present.
The rapper, whose legal name is Rakim Mayers, was accused of shooting his former friend and ASAP Mob member Terrell Ephron, aka ASAP Relli, following a fight near The W Hotel in Hollywood in November 2021.
The longtime friends, who helped co-found the ASAP rap collective in New York’s Harlem that launched Rocky’s career, drifted apart as Rocky’s star rose. Tensions boiled over after Ephron came under the false impression that Rocky broke a promise to pay for another ASAP member’s funeral, leading to the fight that ended in Rocky shooting Ephron in the hand.
Defense attorney Joe Tacopina, however, contended that Rocky was defending himself after Ephron attacked him on the street. Just before trial, Tacopina admitted that Rocky was the person caught on camera shooting at Ephron, but insisted the weapon was a “prop gun” Rocky had taken from the set of a music video he filmed with Rihanna.
Rocky would have faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted, as prosecutors filed a sentencing enhancement for the use of a gun during the commission of a crime.
“This is one of the happiest days of my life,” Tacopina said outside the courthouse Tuesday afternoon. “We just have to leave, but listen, bottom line is we’re grateful for the jury.“
Evidence in the case initially appeared limited. Los Angeles police officers who responded to 911 calls on the night of the incident found no evidence of a shooting. Ephron reported the attack two days later and claimed to have recovered two shell casings at the scene. There was no forensic evidence tying Rocky to the shooting and a weapon was never recovered.
Some late shuffling by the prosecution, including the last-minute addition of veteran prosecutor John Lewin to the trial team and an eleventh-hour plea offer that would have seen Rocky spend just six months in jail, left some questioning if the district attorney’s office had lost faith in its case. Tacopina and Rocky both scoffed at the plea deal last month and remained cocksure throughout the proceedings.
“While today’s verdict is not the outcome we sought, we respect the jury’s decision and the integrity of our justice system,” Hochman said in a statement. “Our office remains committed to seeking accountability for those who break the law, no matter their status or influence. Fame does not place anyone above the law.”
A district attorney’s office spokeswoman previously declined to comment on the decision to offer a plea deal on the eve of the trial or explain why Lewin was added to the case. Lewin also previously declined to comment.
Rocky’s tour manager testified he got rid of the prop gun, leading prosecutors to question whether the device ever existed. Footage of the incident clearly captures Rocky wielding what looks like a gun, but video does not clearly show Rocky firing it.
The case largely came down to the credibility of two people: Ephron — the only eyewitness naming Rocky as the shooter — and Jamel Phillips, aka ASAP Twelvyy, who was with Rocky the night of the shooting and claimed he knew the gun was fake.
After closing arguments in the trial of ASAP Rocky, a Los Angeles jury will decide whether the rapper is guilty of assault charges that could land him in prison for nearly 20 years.
Tacopina tormented Ephron during two days of cross-examination, insisting he only contacted the police to bolster a civil lawsuit he filed against Rocky, calling him an extortionist and a “perjurer.” Tacopina caught the prosecution’s key witness in several lies he dispelled with video and audio recordings, sparking several frustrated outbursts from Ephron.
“I do not wanna stay here. I am not on trial. I’m here for 5 days … dealing with this man. I wanna go,” Ephron grumbled at Tacopina at one point.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, argued that testimony from Phillips and Rocky’s tour manager — Louis Levin, aka ASAP Lou — couldn’t be trusted because they both rely on the rap star to remain relevant in the music industry.
“Are you going to listen to Mr. Twelvyy, the man who is dependent on the defendant for his income, really for his entire career?” Deputy Dist. Atty. Paul Przelomiec asked. “Are you going to rely on him or are you going to rely on your own ... eyes? Because what he described on the video did not happen.”
During closing arguments Przelomiec painted the prop gun defense as absurd, questioning why Rocky and his crew wouldn’t preserve the weapon as proof of his innocence and asking why a multimillionaire defendant would carry a fake gun instead of hiring real security. Phillips testified at trial that Rocky started carrying the prop after he was attacked with a knife in a nightclub.
The mercurial hip-hop star allegedly mistreated Jewish employees inside his fashion company and compared himself to Adolf Hitler, according to a civil lawsuit filed Tuesday.
While much pretrial attention was paid to the potential presence of Rihanna in the courtroom — she attended several days of trial and brought the couple’s children to closing arguments last week — the true fireworks were between a pair of brash lawyers known for their short fuses.
Tacopina, who once defended President Trump in a civil defamation case stemming from a rape allegation in New York, and Lewin, who famously won a murder conviction against Robert Durst, have spent the entire trial exchanging verbal haymakers that have threatened to translate to physical blows — and possible court sanctions.
Rakim Mayers, better known as the rapper ASAP Rocky, will headline the Rolling Loud festival and serve as a chair of the Met Gala this year — as long as he dodges a conviction at his trial for a 2021 Hollywood shooting.
Lewin has repeatedly accused Tacopina of ethical violations and misconduct, claiming the defense team withheld discovery and violated court orders. He even claimed Tacopina challenged him to a physical fight at one point and accused the Brooklyn, N.Y., attorney of being on “steroids.” Tacopina, meanwhile, has invoked allegations of misconduct against Lewin stemming from the Durst case and cursed at the veteran prosecutor on more than one occasion, shouting at Lewin and calling him “fat” while Rocky laughed aloud during a break in closing arguments Friday.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold looked exhausted by both attorneys throughout the case, shouting them down at various points. He welcomed them into court with mock introductions, as if they were standing in opposite corners of a boxing ring, after a particularly heated exchange last week.
“I don’t think a jury wants to see a lawyer out of control,” Tacopina said after the verdict was read Tuesday, referencing Lewin’s “yelling, screaming, constant objecting.” But ultimately, he said he believed “the facts” governed the outcome.
Rocky declined to testify in his own defense and sat largely impassive during the trial, brightening only when Rihanna or his kids showed up in the gallery. The star rapper is set to release his first solo album in nearly a decade, headline L.A.’s Rolling Loud music festival and star in a Spike Lee film later this year.
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