A$AP Rocky is expected to appear in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom Tuesday, as jury selection begins in his assault and gun trial.
The rapper, born Rakim Mayers, is charged with two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. The Grammy-nominated performer has pleaded not guilty.
A$AP Rocky was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport in 2022, as he arrived on a private plane from Barbados with girlfriend Rihanna. The two stars are parents to two young sons.
At the time, the LAPD said the rap star opened fire on a former friend during a heated argument in Hollywood on Nov. 6, 2021.
“The argument escalated and resulted in the suspect firing a handgun at the victim,” police said in a press release following A$AP Rocky’s arrest. “The victim sustained a minor injury from the incident and later sought his medical treatment.”
Related: A$AP Rocky’s Former Swedish Lawyer Shot in Head
The victim was later identified as fellow performer Terell Ephron, whose stage name is A$AP Relli.
At a previous court appearance, Ephron told the judge he and A$AP Rocky had been friends since childhood. Ephron said a disagreement between the two escalated in 2021, and he alleged Rocky pulled a gun and opened fire, with a bullet grazing Ephron’s left hand.
If convicted, A$AP Rocky faces up to 24 years in state prison according to the Associated Press.
The rapper and fashion icon is no stranger to law enforcement. In 2019, he was convicted in Sweden for his role in a street brawl. Swedish authorities accused the rapper and his associates of kicking and beating an Afghan refugee with a glass bottle.
A$AP Rocky testified that the man and a friend instigated a fight with the hip-hop star’s bodyguard. The rapper said he acted in self-defense after being accosted by “drug addicts.”
The rapper was in Sweden for a music festival. He and his associates spent nearly a month in jail before they were released.
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