A$AP Rocky pleads not guilty to firearm assault charges

LOS ANGELES –

Rapper A$AP Rocky has pleaded not guilty to felony assault with a firearm charges stemming from a 2021 confrontation in Hollywood.

He is accused of drawing a gun and firing it twice in the direction of a former friend during an argument in Hollywood in November 2021. He pleaded not guilty Wednesday to two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and ordered to return to court on Nov. 2.

Los Angeles Superior Court Victoria B. Wilson ordered the rapper, whose legal name is Rakim Athelaston Mayers, to stay away from the former friend.

Mayers and two other men fled after he fired the gun, police said. He was first arrested in the incident at Los Angeles International Airport on April 20, and was released on bail the same day.

A member of the Harlem hip hop collective A$AP Mob, A$AP Rocky first made his mark in music with the single “Peso” in 2011. His 2013 debut album, “Long. Live. A$AP,” went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200, as did its 2015 follow-up, “At. Long. Last. A$AP.” He has been nominated for two Grammy Awards.

He is in a relationship with Rihanna, and the two had a son in May. Both have become as known for fashion trendsetting as for their music.