Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, and his lawyer Joe Tacopina take heed to opening remarks by the prosecuting lawyer in Mayers’ trial on the Clara Shortridge Foltz Prison Justice Heart in downtown Los Angeles, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Occasions through AP, Pool)
A former pal of A$AP Rocky is ready to testify Wednesday in regards to the second the hip-hop star allegedly fired a gun at him on a Hollywood road in 2021.
The trial’s key witness, identified by the identify A$AP Relli, will present what’s prone to be the trial’s most essential piece of testimony when he will get again on the stand.
Rocky, whose authorized identify is Rakim Mayers, has pleaded not responsible to 2 felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. His lawyer says the pictures he fired have been blanks from a starter pistol that he carried as a prop.
On Tuesday, Relli, born Terell Ephron, described the primary a part of the confrontation, and was on the verge of describing the alleged taking pictures itself when courtroom ended for the day.
He stated he and Rocky, members of A$AP, a crew of creators at a New York highschool, had been shut however their relationship eroded after fame got here for Rocky.
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He stated their relationship had been strained for years and getting worse within the earlier days, however he was nonetheless “livid” when Rocky pulled a gun on him after a scuffle that started the second the 2 met up close to the W Resort.
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“I informed him to make use of it. As a result of mentally I couldn’t imagine it,” Relli testified, together with his outdated pal observing him intently from the protection desk. “I bodily couldn’t imagine there was a gun in my face. That was the breaking level for me.”
He stated he had anticipated to argue however reconcile together with his outdated pal, and the very last thing he wished to do was get right into a struggle that might destroy the modest music administration enterprise he had constructed.
“He’s well-known,” Relli stated. “I’m no person.”
The testimony will come on an abbreviated courtroom day. The trial will solely be in session for 2 hours within the morning due to a prosecutor’s earlier dedication. Relli can count on to face fierce cross-examination from the protection that might start Wednesday.
Raised in Harlem, Rocky’s rap songs grew to become a phenomenon on the streets of New York in 2011. He had his mainstream breakthrough when his first studio album went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2013. The second, in 2015, did the identical.
He’s set to have his greatest profession 12 months as a multi-media star. This Sunday, he’s nominated for a Grammy Award for greatest music video for his tune “Tailor Swif,” on the ceremony at Crypto.com Enviornment simply two miles from the Los Angeles courthouse the place his trial’s being held.
He’s additionally set to headline the Rolling Loud Music Competition, to star reverse Denzel Washington in a movie directed by Spike Lee, and to co-chair the Met Gala in Could.
However the prospect of a conviction and the potential for a most of 24 years in jail casts a shadow over all of it.
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Rocky is the longtime accomplice of Rihanna, with whom he has two toddler sons. She has but to look at his trial.