After Verdict, A$AP Rocky Rushed to Hug Rihanna

"Thank y'all for saving my life," A$AP Rocky told jurors Tuesday after he was found not guilty of shooting his former friend A$AP Relli. The rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, could have faced up to 24 years in prison if found guilty on two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. He was charged in 2022 in connection with the 2021 incident in Los Angeles. Relli claimed his knuckles were grazed by a bullet when Rocky fired two shots at him in a scuffle outside a Hollywood hotel, CNN reports.

Another crew member, A$AP Twelvyy, testified that Rocky had been carrying a starter pistol that fired blanks. Defense lawyers described Relli as a man full of "jealousy, lies, and greed" and argued that he tried to frame his former friend. After the verdict, Rocky dived over a barrier to hug his longtime partner Rihanna, the BBC reports. In his closing argument, Deputy District Attorney John Lewin suggested that Rihanna tried to manipulate the jury by bringing the couple's two children to closing arguments, reports the AP. After the verdict, Rocky's lawyer Joe Tacopina said, "Rocky did not want her here, I will tell you that," but "wild horses couldn't keep her away." (More A$AP Rocky stories.)