“Thank y’all for saving my life,” A$AP Rocky shouted to jurors as they left his trial. It’s no ordinary life they sent him on to when they quickly returned not guilty verdicts on Tuesday for two counts of felony assault with a semiautomatic handgun. The rapper could’ve left the Los Angeles courtroom in cuffs, awaiting a long prison sentence, but instead found himself literally leaping with joy into the lap of his superstar partner, Rihanna, in the audience behind him.
“There was a moment when, before we heard the words from the clerk, he didn’t know if he was going to be spending the next two decades in jail or going home,” his attorney, Joe Tacopina, said. Rocky had a banner year of fame and glamour ahead, which he can now freely embrace. In the same city as his acquittal, he is set to headline the Rolling Loud music festival next month. On the other coast, he will attend the Met Gala as a celebrity co-chair in May, alongside LeBron James and Pharrell Williams. In summer, he adds major motion picture actor to his resume as the co-star — with Denzel Washington — in director Spike Lee’s film Highest 2 Lowest.
The trial came at the height of his fame, if not the pinnacle of a music career that began with acclaim in his native New York, leading to a pair of No. 1 albums and three Grammy nominations. It would have been easy — and many would say smart — for him to have accepted a relatively generous pretrial offer: six months in jail, probation, and other conditions for a guilty plea to one count. He declined and faced a three-week trial with the possibility of a 24-year prison sentence and separation from Rihanna and their children, 2-year-old RZA Athelston Mayers and 1-year-old Riot Rose Mayers.
“He turned down a plea for almost no jail time because he was innocent,” Tacopina said. “They’re gonna move on. They have a lot of great things professionally going on. Rocky’s really at the height of his career. Rihanna’s on top of the world. They have two beautiful children. They have a family.”
Rocky and Rihanna pushed their way through a crush of photographers, reporters, YouTubers, and fans to get into a waiting SUV. “I’m thankful… to be here right now, to be a free man talking to y’all,” he said with a smile.
When the verdict was read, the courtroom full of fans exploded into screaming glee as Rocky jumped to where Rihanna sat with his mother and sister. “Mr. Mayers, you’re excused,” Judge Mark Arnold said moments later, signaling the end of post-trial hearings, appeals, and sentencing. Rihanna had slipped into the courtroom after the rest of the audience was seated, bringing their sons with her during the closing arguments.
Rocky had been more than 30 minutes late for the reading of the verdict and looked shaken and tense as he waited. Then came the verdict, the leap, and the release. “I didn’t know how athletic he was,” Tacopina said. “That was raw emotion, you guys got to see.”
Prosecutors and their witnesses claimed Rocky had a confrontation with a former friend, A$AP Relli, from their high school crew, the A$AP Mob. They said the two men met up in Hollywood on November 6, 2021, where a scuffle ensued, and Rocky fired twice at Relli, grazing his knuckle but not seriously injuring him. Rocky’s defense argued he shot a prop gun that only fires blanks, which he had carried for security since taking it from a music video set months earlier. They painted Relli as a lying opportunist who sought police attention to get money from Rocky, who has since filed a separate civil suit.
The jury was instructed that if they found Rocky reasonably believed he or his friends were in imminent danger, they could find him not guilty. The jurors cleared him in just three hours, with Tacopina stating, “This jury saw through it and came to an enormously quick and speedy verdict, the right verdict.”
Rocky thanked Tacopina for his defense, suggesting the attorney join his crew. “A$AP Joe!” he shouted.
District Attorney Nathan Hochman expressed respect for the jury’s decision, saying, “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, and we will not waver in our pursuit of justice for victims and the community.”
