Rihanna appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom on Wednesday to watch the trial of her longtime partner, ASAP Rocky, who is accused of firing a gun at a former collaborator.
Rocky, 36, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, is charged with two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, stemming from an altercation with a former collaborator, ASAP Relli, born Terell Ephron, near a Hollywood hotel in 2021. If convicted, Rocky faces a maximum of 24 years in prison.
The rapper first rose to fame following the 2011 release of the single “Peso,” and his debut mixtape, “Live. Love.” Rocky was part of the influential New York-based rap collective ASAP Mob, with Relli, and has since acted in major studio films and been featured in several fashion campaigns.
Rihanna, the famed singer, actress and businesswoman, came to the courthouse in downtown Los Angeles as the trial resumed with a second day of testimony from Ephron.
Here is what to know about the trial.
What is the trial about?
At a pretrial hearing in November 2023, Relli testified that he and Rocky were high school friends who once belonged to the same rap collective.
Their relationship frayed amid Rocky’s rise to fame. Relli and Rocky agreed to meet on the evening of Nov. 6, 2021, to clear their differences, Relli testified.
Relli claimed Rocky arrived with two men at a parking garage near the W Hotel in Hollywood. Prosecutors allege that he and Rocky briefly argued and Rocky pulled a gun from his waistband and later fired at Relli, grazing his knuckles, a claim they argue is supported by surveillance video showing Rocky holding a gun before the shooting.
In 2022, Rocky was arrested at a Los Angeles airport as he and Rihanna returned from a trip to Barbados. He pleaded not guilty and was released on bond. Relli also filed a lawsuit in civil court against Rocky for damages sustained during the shooting.
The trial is expected to conclude the week of Feb. 10.
How has ASAP Rocky responded?
Rocky turned down a plea offer of a six-month jail term with a seven-year suspended sentence and three years of probation.
His lawyer, Joe Tacopina, has argued that the weapon used was a “prop gun” incapable of firing real ammunition.
Has Rocky’s busy schedule affected the trial?
Rocky has several notable projects on the horizon. He is scheduled to be one of the headliners of the Los Angeles stop of the Rolling Loud festival in March, and was announced as one of the celebrity chairs for the Met Gala, to be held in May. He was also cast to star alongside Denzel Washington in a Spike Lee-directed movie slated to open in summer.
The trial, expected to last two to three weeks, was originally set to begin in November, but was postponed to allow Rocky to host the Rolling Loud music festival, which was in Thailand.
He is nominated for best music video at the Grammys, though it is unclear whether he will attend the awards show on Sunday.
Was Rihanna’s courtroom appearance a surprise?
Judge Mark S. Arnold had asked if Rihanna would attend the trial, saying that she would be welcomed as long as the court was given notice ahead of her arrival. In a pretrial hearing, Arnold sought clarification on the relationship between she and Rocky, who have two children together.
Tacopina said she was Rocky’s “common-law wife” or “just wife.” The prosecution objected and Arnold asked for clarification.
“I don’t know, but she’s certainly his common-law wife,” Tacopina said.
During jury selection, John Lewin, a prosecutor, asked potential jurors if they could be impartial if Rihanna showed up in the courtroom.
On Wednesday, she did. Ahead of the day’s proceedings, a sheriff’s deputy walked the hallway outside the courtroom, reminding those who had come to be professional “no matter who you see here.”
When the public entered the courtroom around 10 a.m., Rihanna, wearing a dark-colored suit jacket, was already seated in the front row of the gallery that featured around 100 people.
She listened impassively as Relli detailed his dispute with Rocky and testified to his shock when Rocky brandished a gun. Prosecutors showed video footage of the altercation and a photo of Relli’s injury to his hand, which he described as superficial.
Will Rocky’s legal history come up in this trial?
It’s unclear. Rocky was a central figure in a 2019 incident that caught international attention, when he and two members of his entourage said they acted in self-defense when they punched and kicked a 19-year-old man in Stockholm. Rocky was held in detention for about a month awaiting trial.
President Trump took an interest in the case, calling for Rocky’s release in a Twitter post and sending a special envoy for hostage affairs to watch the trial. Rocky was found guilty, but a panel of judges said that the assault was not of such a “serious nature that a prison sentence must be chosen,” and he was released.
