US rapper A$AP Rocky pleads not guilty to gun charges

AFP
2 Min Read
ย 
Published by
AFP


Los Angeles (AFP) โ€“ US rapper A$AP Rocky pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to two charges of assault with a firearm over a confrontation with a former friend in Hollywood last year.

The 33-year-old, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, is alleged to have pointed the semiautomatic weapon at a one-time friend during an argument in November.

He is said to have subsequently drawn the weapon and fired it twice, leaving the man with what police described as โ€œa minor injury.โ€

Mayers denied the charges. He was released on $550,000 bail, and ordered to appear in court again on November 2.

The โ€œPraise the Lord (Da Shine)โ€ artist was arrested over the incident at Los Angeles International Airport in April when he arrived on a private plane from Barbados.

US media outlets reported that he had been on the island with his then-pregnant girlfriend Rihanna, who is from the Caribbean nation.

The entertainment and fashion mogul behind the hits โ€œDiamondsโ€ and โ€œUmbrellaโ€ gave birth to a boy on May 13 in Los Angeles.

In an interview with GQ magazine published in May 2021, Mayers called Rihanna the โ€œlove of my lifeโ€ and โ€œthe One.โ€

New York-born Mayers was previously arrested in Stockholm in 2019 over a street brawl.

He was held in Swedish custody for more than a month, in an incident which drew global attention, and was handed a suspended sentence.