Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, reacts in court as the verdict is given in his felony assault trial in Los Angeles on Feb. 18. The rapper was found not guilty of two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm.
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Daniel Cole-Pool/Getty Images
After three weeks of testimony, jurors in the trial of rapper A$AP Rocky deliberated for only about three hours. The verdict? Not guilty. Cheers erupted in the Los Angeles courtroom as the decision came down; Rocky, whose government name is Rakim Mayers, immediately ran into the arms of his partner and mother of his children, Rihanna.
“Thank y’all for saving my life,” the 36-year-old said as jurors left the courtroom.
The rapper faced charges for two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. In November 2021, Rocky fired two shots with a handgun at former friend A$AP Relli in Hollywood. The defense argued that Rocky fired blanks from a prop gun he carried for security; jurors were also told they could find the rapper not guilty if they believed he acted in self-defense. Without explaining their reasoning, the 12-person jury quickly reached a consensus.
Rocky, who had been free on bail following his arrest in 2022, could have been looking at a 24-year prison sentence. Before the trial started, he turned down a plea deal to serve six months; his lawyers maintained that he had not committed any crimes.
The acquittal comes at a pivotal time in A$AP Rocky’s career. He’s set to headline the Rolling Loud hip-hop festival in Los Angeles next month; he’s a co-chair at this year’s Met Gala, which features the theme “Superfine: Tailoring Black Style,” centering the relationship between Black identity and fashion; and he’ll star alongside Denzel Washington in Spike Lee’s crime thriller Highest 2 Lowest this summer. In 2023, he released the song “Same Problems” as the introduction to what will reportedly be his upcoming album, Don’t Be Dumb.
In 2019, Rocky was found guilty of assault in Sweden. He was ordered to pay a fine but was allowed to return to the United States, having already spent several weeks in a Stockholm jail.
