American rapper A$AP Rocky is set to go to trial for allegedly pulling a gun on a former friend and shooting at him, as ruled by a Los Angeles court on Monday. A$AP Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers and has two children with R&B star Rihanna, faces two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, charges he denies.
The court heard that Terell Ephron, also known as A$AP Relli, a founding member of the A$AP collective, suffered minor injuries after a confrontation in Hollywood in November 2021. Ephron claimed that the friendship between the two had soured, with accusations of abandonment of other group members.
Ephron stated that A$AP Rocky’s success had left other collective members in poverty and drug use. The court learned that after a group member’s death, the two clashed in an altercation partly captured on surveillance camera. A$AP Rocky allegedly pulled a gun, threatening to kill Ephron, and in a subsequent altercation, shot at him, grazing his left hand.
A$AP Rocky, currently free on bail, has been ordered to be arraigned on January 8.
