A$AP Rocky’s legal troubles include an arrest in Sweden where Donald Trump got involved
FOR almost three years pop star Rihanna has faced the “hell” of knowing the father of her two children could end up in jail until he was 60.
But after rapper A$AP Rocky was found not guilty of a gun assault on Wednesday, the couple are now planning to get hitched, according to insiders.
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Rhianna and boyfriend A$AP Rocky are now planning their wedding after his legal problems are overCredit: Getty
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Rihanna was tearful after the jury delivered the not guilty verdict in a Los Angeles courtroomCredit: The Mega Agency
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Rihanna and Rocky have two children togetherCredit: Getty
Umbrella singer Rihanna, 37, was tearful after the jury delivered the verdict in a Los Angeles courtroom.
She was pregnant with the couple’s oldest son RZA when her partner was arrested in April 2022 for allegedly shooting at his childhood pal A$AP Relli.
A$AP Rocky, 36 — real name Rakim Mayers — had a reputation as a bad boy before seemingly settling down with the billionaire singer and businesswoman in 2020.
He dealt drugs as a child, called his ex Rita Ora a “bitch” in a rap song, described himself as a “sex addict” and spent time in a Swedish jail in 2019 for assaulting a man.
But Rocky always denied firing a semi-automatic weapon at Relli, real name Terell Ephron, in November 2021.
And determined to clear his name, he turned down an offer to spend just 180 days in jail in return for a guilty plea.
Rihanna has stood by him throughout the ordeal, even bringing their two sons, RZA, two, and Riot, one, to the trial.
The couple have kept the status of their relationship a closely guarded secret — so much so that even their lawyer did not know if they had tied the knot.
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But it was confirmed during the three-week court case that they are not man and wife.
A source told The Sun: “Without doubt she was petrified that it could have gone the other way, with him winding up in jail.
Rihanna arrives to support A$AP Rocky in court as he faces 24 years in prison on gun charges
“And as unthinkable as that scenario may have been, it remained a horrific possibility that played on her mind right until the moment he was cleared.
“Right now they’re basking in the relief and looking forward to a new chapter, which will almost certainly include a wedding.”
Born in Harlem, New York, Rakim had a “blissful” child-hood until he was 12 and his father Duke was jailed for dealing drugs.
As a result, the family lost their home and his mum had to bring up her kids in a homeless shelter.
Rakim then started selling drugs, but the dangers of that lifestyle became all too clear when his older brother Ricky was shot dead by a gangster.
He told The Sun in 2013: “He’d been extorting money and someone wasn’t happy. Bang, he was dead. Just like that.”
The loss of his brother led Rakim to start taking school and rapping more seriously.
Four years after Ricky’s death he became part of a rap collective in New York called the A$AP Mob, which he had been invited to join by his then friend A$AP Relli.
He had known Relli since they studied together at New York’s Bayard Rustin High School for the Humanities.
A$AP Rocky went on to release his first single in 2011 and a year later he supported Rihanna on tour.
The rapper, who is said to have dated Rita Ora in 2012, was first romantically linked to Barbadian singer Rihanna in 2013.
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The rapper was facing 24 years in prisonCredit: Reuters
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A$AP Rocky released his first single in 2011 and a year later he supported Rihanna on tourCredit: Getty
But she had been in on-off relationships with Canadian rapper Drake and singer Chris Brown during this point of her life.
It was not until May 2021 that A$AP confirmed that he and Rihanna were an item and told GQ mag that she was the “the love of my life”.
By this time he was a huge star in his own right, having got to No1 in the US album charts in 2013 with Long.Live.A$AP and in 2015 with At.Long.Last.A$AP.
Big names lined up to work with him, including Rod Stewart who sang on one of his records, the denim brand Guess, Puma trainers and Gucci aftershave.
But he has struggled to shake off his reputation for being a troublemaker.
In July 2012, he was arrested after getting into a fight with a couple of photographers and in July 2019 he was locked up in Stockholm after assaulting a man called Mustafa Jafari, who was 19 at the time.
When the Swedish authorities held A$AP in custody until the court case a month later, US President Donald Trump reportedly threatened trade restrictions against the Scandinavian country unless the star was released.
In August of that year, A$AP was convicted of assault and given a suspended prison sentence.
Two years later he was accused of pulling a firearm on A$AP Relli in LA.
The pair had fallen out, with Relli having reportedly become jealous of his old friend’s success.
‘WENT THROUGH HELL’
Relli claimed that Rocky had asked him to meet at a location in central Hollywood “to discuss a disagreement between the two of them”.
In court, he alleged that the rapper had shot at him several times, with a couple of bullets grazing the knuckles of his left hand.
If A$AP Rocky had been found guilty he faced a maximum of 24 years behind bars.
Our source told us: “Rihanna never wavered from her support, for a second, but it’s open knowledge she went through hell in the lead-up to this trial.
“The investigation dragged on for almost three years.
“It’s been like this storm cloud hanging over them and took a major toll on her stress levels as well as his.
“Keep in mind she was pregnant when he got arrested, then the case really intensified throughout her second pregnancy and when she next gave birth.
“In all that time, though, she stood by him 100 per cent and neither of them lost faith that he would eventually be cleared.
“Still, there were a lot of sleepless nights, with a ton of anxiety, because it wasn’t ultimately in their hands.”
There was footage, which appeared to show Rocky pulling out a gun, but the rapper’s defence lawyer claimed it was a starter pistol that shot blanks.
It took the jury just three hours at the end of the three-week trial to find A$AP Rocky not guilty.
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Rihanna appears in a 2013 music video for RockyCredit: RCA
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Rihanna and Rocky pictued cuddling in 2021Credit: Rex
When the verdict was read out, he leapt across the courtroom and into the arms of his relieved family members.
Afterwards, Rihanna wrote on Instagram: “The glory belongs to God and God alone! Thankful. Humbled by His mercy!”
That night they celebrated with a late-night dinner at Gravitas Social Club in Beverly Hills and the following day they went shopping for gifts.
Rihanna, who founded Fenty Beauty in 2017 and celebrated her birthday last night, is said to be looking forward to marrying A$AP.
Our insider added: “It’s an open secret that her family would love to see them tie the knot in Barbados and it’s a place that’s very special to both of them because they’ve shared some wonderful memories there together.
“It’s definitely where Rihanna has always pictured herself getting married and her family is completely supportive of the relationship.”
If the couple decide to have another boy, they plan to name him after their lawyer. Joe Tacopina.
Joe revealed: “They grabbed me and they said, ‘Listen, our next baby is A$AP Joe’.”
A$AP Rocky can now get on with lots of planned projects.
He has been linked with a deal to buy part of Tranmere Rovers Football Club and he will be head-lining the Rolling Loud music festival in Los Angeles next month.
But for the time being he is just going to enjoy being with his young family.
Our insider concluded: “This ordeal has been nothing short of a nightmare, but the one silver lining is that it’s definitely brought them closer together.”
