After evading a crush of cameras outside, Rihanna made a surprise courtroom cameo in the front row of A$AP Rocky’s gun assault trial in Los Angeles on Wednesday, lending her support as her longtime partner fights charges he pulled a semiautomatic firearm and shot live bullets at a former friend three years ago.
The superstar singer was seated between Rocky’s mom and sister, with beefy security guards on either side of the trio. She watched silently as alleged victim A$AP Relli testified for a second day, giving his account of the alleged shooting. The “Umbrella” artist, who shares two young sons with Rocky, arrived separately and apparently was escorted inside using a secure elevator. She was looking around the courtroom as the public filed in, her arm propped on the courtroom bench. When video was played, she leaned forward and donned glasses with thick black frames.
Relli, born Terell Ephron, told jurors that he and Rocky, born Rakim Mayers, were arguing on a street in Hollywood, California, on Nov. 6, 2021 when Mayers allegedly pulled a pistol on him.
“I knew he had a gun,” Ephron testified, saying Mayers brandished it shortly after they first met face to face outside the W Hotel. Ephron said he continued to pursue Mayers around a corner because he felt like he “would never see him again” and wanted to relieve some grievances “I had on my chest.”
“I see Rocky turn around. When he turns around, he’s like, it kind of looked like a movie. He kind of pointed down and shot the first shot. I felt my hand hot,” Ephron said, claiming a bullet grazed his left hand. “I’m trying to not get hit at this point. …It was like a movie, boom.”
Mayers, 36, is charged with two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. Prosecutors claim the Grammy-nominated rapper fired multiple shots from a gun that was never recovered.
For his part, Mayers says he was carrying a starter pistol as a prop gun for protection and that he fired two “warning shots” to break up a scuffle between Ephron and Illijah Ulanger, also known as A$AP Illz. Mayers is adamant he never fired any live bullets. If convicted as charged, Mayers is facing up to 24 years in prison, prosecutors have said.
The video at the center of the trial was first shown in court in November 2023. It’s a series of clips from multiple surveillance cameras depicting Mayers holding some type of firearm. The blurry, black and white video of the alleged shooting has no visible muzzle flash and had no sound when it was recorded near the corner of Selma Ave. and Vista Del Mar Ave. in Hollywood. When the compilation was played again during opening statements, video of the alleged shooting was synchronized with the sound of two loud cracking noises captured as the audio to a different video from around the corner. Deputy District Attorney Paul Przelomiec told jurors they were able to marry the sound from one video to the other because a security floodlight triggered during the incident and was visible in both.
Mayers was first arrested over the case in April 2022. Back then, the incident was described by police as an argument between acquaintances that escalated into gunfire. Rolling Stone was the first to identify the alleged victim after learning Ephron had filed a civil complaint.
In his opening statement, Mayers’ lawyer Joe Tacopina said the evidence will show lots of people in Mayers’ inner circle knew he carried a “fake gun” for safety, to “scare off potential attackers” after he was the victim of prior violence and a stalker. Tacopina said the specific gun in Rocky’s hands that night was a prop that came from the set of a music video he filmed in July 2021 with Rihanna.
“This case is about one man’s jealousy, lies and greed,” Tacopina said, calling Ephron the “source of all the evidence” in the case. “Ladies and gentleman, this case is all about money. The evidence will show you it’s nothing more than a money grab,” Tacopina said. “The evidence will make clear Relli is trying to leverage a fabricated story to extract money from Rocky.”
From Rolling Stone US
