A$AP Rocky has been found not guilty of firing a gun at his former friend.
The rapper dived into his partner Rihanna’s arms when the verdict was read outat the end of the trial.
He had been charged with two felony counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm against former friend Terell Ephron, known as A$AP Relli, in November 2021.
Once close, the pair were both members of the A$AP Mob crew of creators at high school in New York, but their relationship broke down after Rocky became famous, the court was told.
Image: A$AP Rocky reacting in court after the verdict is heard.
Pic: Reuters/Daniel Cole/Pool
Image: Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, embraces his lawyer Joe Tacopina in court after his not-guilty verdict.
Pic: Reuters/Daniel Cole/Pool
“Thank y’all for saving my life,” Rocky told jurors as they left the courtroom. He had faced more than 24 years in prison if convicted.
After the verdict, Rihanna cried and also hugged lawyers.
Speaking outside court amid a frenzied media scrum, Rocky said: “First of all, I gotta thank god. I really wanna thank the jury for making the right decision.
“I’m so thankful this is crazy right now. I’m thankful… we’re blessed to be a freeman talking to all of y’all.”
Image: Rihanna and A$AP Rocky outside court after he was found not guilty.
Pic: Reuters/Daniel Cole
The courtroom, full of fans of the rapper, exploded in screaming after the verdict was heard.
After a three-week trial the jury deliberated for just three hours.
Amid the chaos, it took the clerk a while to read the second not-guilty verdict.
Image: A$AP Rocky gestures while leaving court, following his not-guilty verdict.
Pic: AP/Damian Dovarganes
‘Jealousy, lies and greed’
During the trial, jurors were shown surveillance videos which prosecutors argued were clear evidence that Rocky fired a gun at Ephron outside a parking garage in Hollywood.
But the 36-year-old’s attorney told the court Ephron was driven by “jealousy, lies and greed” and that the gun was actually a “starter pistol” that only shot blanks.
Rocky’s lawyers and witnesses said he had fired the prop gun as a warning because Ephron was attacking another member of their group.
The jury was also instructed that if they found Rocky reasonably believed that he or one of the two friends with him that night were in imminent danger and that he used reasonable force, they could find him not guilty.
It was not immediately clear whether the not-guilty verdict was reached because the jury believed he was carrying a prop gun or that he acted in self-defence.
Image: Terell Ephron, aka A$AP Relli, was a former friend. Pic: Frazer Harrison/Pool via AP
Ahead of the trial, the rapper turned down a final prosecution offer – to plead guilty to one of his two felony counts and serve 180 days in prison.
Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, has two toddler sons with his pop superstar partner.
The Umbrella singer attended court on several days during the trial, including when Ephron gave evidence.
Rocky was nominated for an award at the Grammysearlier this month, and is one of the celebrity chairmen of this year’s Met Gala in May.
He also has a major role in an upcoming Spike Lee-directed film with Denzel Washington.
A woman who saw a man falling from an upper tier at Wembley Stadium says a similar incident at an Oasis concert over the weekend in which a fan died makes her wonder whether lessons have been learned.
Stephanie Good, 39, said a man fell during a Euro 2020 match between England and Croatia at Wembley in June 2021.
He landed “right next to where we were” on the “stairwell between rows of seats”, she said.
Named as Jon, he reportedly survived but suffered two broken ankles, a fractured femur and fractured pelvis just before kick-off.
Ms Good said she tried to give feedback but was unable to and felt the “emergency response was really lacking”.
The man reportedly fell from the stadium’s upper tier.
In his 40s, he was found with “injuries consistent with a fall” and pronounced dead at the scene, the Met Police said.
Ms Good, an NHS manager from east London, said what happened at the Oasis gig was “so similar” to what she witnessed that it made her wonder “were lessons learned”?
Image: Liam and Noel Gallagher on stage for the first Wembley night of the Oasis reunion tour. Pic: Lewis Evans
During that incident, among stadium staff “nobody seemed to know what to do”, she told the Press Association.
She thinks the man may have been trying to attach a flag to the front of a stand and “somehow managed to fall straight over”.
She said: “They (staff) didn’t seem well-trained in terms of how to respond to a really big emergency.
“Their stewards were kind of paralysed a little bit by fear, or they just weren’t well trained and didn’t know how to call for paramedics.
“It was us who were sort of shouting at them that they needed to get some paramedics.
“The first person on the scene wasn’t a stadium paramedic or St John Ambulance. It was an off-duty firefighter who had seen the guy fall and ran down to just try and offer some help.”
Regarding the follow-up, Ms Good said staff moved spectators to other seats but did not ask for witness statements.
She added: “They didn’t seek any input from people who’d seen the incident or the aftermath of it. They didn’t seem interested in speaking to anybody about it.
“I was a bit concerned, because I felt that the emergency response was really lacking.”
She then tried to get in touch to give feedback, but was unable to do so and did not receive a response to a message on social media, she said.
A Wembley spokesperson said: “Wembley Stadium operates to a very high health and safety standard, fully meeting legal requirements for the safety of spectators and staff, and is certified to and compliant with the ISO 45001 standard.
“We work very closely and collaboratively with all relevant event delivery stakeholders – including event owners, local authorities, the Sports Grounds Safety Authority and the police – to deliver events to high standards of safety, security and service for everyone attending or working in the venue.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been denied bail ahead of his sentencing on prostitution-related charges.
Judge Arun Subramanian said the hip-hop mogul had failed to show sufficient evidence he is not a flight risk and also cited admissions of previous violence made during his trial.
Combs, 55, has been in prison since his arrest in September last year.
During a two-month trial, jurors heard allegations that he had coerced former girlfriends, including singer and model Cassie Ventura, into having drug-fuelled sex marathons with male sex workers, while he watched and filmed them.
Image: Diddy fell to his knees after the verdict was delivered last month. Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg
The rapper’s legal team hailed this a “victory” and immediately applied for bail ahead of sentencing, citing his acquittal on the top charges.
After this was denied, they submitted another application last week. Judge Subramanian has now rejected the request again.
In denying the motion for bail, the judge found Combs had failed to show sufficient evidence to counter arguments he is a flight risk, writing in a court filing: “Increasing the amount of the bond or devising additional conditions doesn’t change the calculus given the circumstances and heavy burden of proof that Combs bears.”
Image: Judge Arun Subramanian heard Diddy’s trial and will also sentence the rapper
He also found that an argument by the music star’s legal team that the squalor and danger of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), where he is being held, did not warrant release.
“The public outcry concerning these conditions has come from all corners,” the judge wrote. “But as Combs acknowledges, MDC staff has been able to keep him safe and attend to his needs, even during an incident of threatened violence from an inmate.”
The judge has not yet responded to this application.
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How the Diddy trial unfolded
How long could Diddy be jailed for?
Combs is due to be sentenced on 3 October and could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
Discussions on sentencing guidelines which followed the jury’s verdict suggest it is unlikely he will be jailed for this long, with an estimate of around two to five years, taking into account time already served.
However, it is ultimately up to Judge Arun Subramanian to decide the rapper’s punishment.
On Friday, Donald Trump was asked during an interview about a potential pardon for Combs following speculation about the issue.
The president said it was unlikely, adding that the rapper was “very hostile” during his presidential campaign.
Combs, who co-founded Bad Boy Records and launched the career of the late Notorious BIG, was for decades a huge figure in pop culture – a Grammy-winning hip-hop artist and business entrepreneur, who presided over an empire ranging from fashion to reality TV.
As well as the criminal conviction, he is also facing several civil lawsuits.