Rihanna popped up to a Los Angeles courtroom today to back up ASAP Rocky as he faces felony assault charges tied to a shooting that went down in Hollywood back in 2021.
She was seen with Rocky’s mom and sister while the trial, which kicked off last week, was underway. Rocky’s in hot water with two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm after his associate, Terell “Relli” Ephron, said Rocky let off shots at him in the streets. Rocky’s keeping it real with a not guilty plea and turned down a plea deal that would’ve had him sitting for 180 days, insisting he was just using a prop gun, not the real deal. If the jury finds him guilty, he could be looking at a serious stretch—up to 24 years behind bars.
Rihanna showed up in court on a lighter day of the trial. Terell “Relli” Ephron took the stand for a second round to break down what went down at a garage near the W Hotel in Hollywood. He explained that he linked up with Rocky in November 2021, hoping to squash the beef between them and make amends. But things took a turn when Rocky allegedly pulled a strap and aimed it right at Ephron’s head and stomach. On day two of his testimony, Ephron is set to talk about what happened right after the gun came out, including the part where he claimed Rocky fired off two shots that just barely grazed his knuckles.
The weapon involved in the shooting is where things get tricky between the prosecution and the defense. Rocky’s team argues that Ephron was the one starting trouble, claiming Rocky brandished a prop gun loaded with blanks to defuse the situation when things got heated with Ephron and his crew.
Earlier this week, Rocky’s lawyers grilled Sgt. Thomas Zizzo, the cop who showed up after reports of the shooting, about the lack of evidence at the scene. (Fun fact: Zizzo is also Erika Jayne’s son.) During his testimony, he stated that he didn’t see any physical proof that a shooting ever went down.
While the trial’s going down, Rocky snagged a nomination for Best Music Video at this Sunday’s Grammy Awards. Looking ahead, he’s set to hit the stage at Rolling Loud California 2025 in March.