Rihanna makes first court appearance at the trial of her partner A$AP Rocky, as accuser testifies

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rihanna appeared for the first time at the trial of her longtime partner A$AP Rocky, on the day of its most important testimony — the description by a former friend of the moment Rocky allegedly fired a gun at him.

The singer superstar, who has two toddler sons with the rapper Rocky, sat out of view of the courtroom’s cameras, between Rocky’s mother and sister, in the downtown Los Angeles criminal courthouse. Security brought her in surreptitiously to avoid crowds Wednesday morning.

Rocky, whose legal name is Rakim Athelston Mayers, has been standing trial on two felony charges that he fired a handgun at the former friend, who is known by the name A$AP Relli and was born Terell Ephron. If convicted, Rocky could get up to 24 years in prison.

Rihanna watched Wednesday as Relli testified about the moment Rocky allegedly fired a gun at him on a Hollywood street in 2021.

He had been shouting angrily at Rocky, who was walking away after an initial confrontation and scuffle, when Rocky pulled a gun from his waistband and held it in the air, Relli testified.

“He turned around and then it was like BOOM!” he told the jury. “The whole thing was like a movie, he kind of like pointed down and he shot the first shot.”

He said “I felt my hand hot” and later added, “I was hit. Or I was grazed. I didn’t have a hole or nothing.”

The trial’s key witness said he grabbed one of their mutual friends who were with Rocky after the first shot was fired and stood behind him for protection. He said he did not see Rocky fire the second shot, and Rocky ran away moments later.

When jurors were being selected, prosecutors asked them whether Rihanna’s connection to the case, especially if she appeared in court, would affect their ability to deliver a guilty verdict.

Nearly all those questioned had heard of her — far more than had heard of Rocky — and some described themselves as fans, but all said they felt it would not affect their decisions.

It was not clear whether they could see Rihanna or were aware of her presence as they watched the testimony. She wore a long black dress with buttons on the front that resembled a winter overcoat, and had a pair of glasses on her head that she put on during the prosecution’s questioning.

Earlier in the trial, which began on Jan. 21, Relli said he and Rocky, members of A$AP, a crew of creators at a New York high school, had been close but their relationship eroded after Rocky became famous.

He said their relationship had been strained for years and was getting worse in the days leading up to the incident, but he was still “furious” when Rocky pulled a gun on him after a scuffle that began the moment the two met up near the W Hotel. He dared him to use it.

When Rocky walked away, he testified that he followed and shouted after him, until the shots were fired.

Rocky’s lawyer says the shots he fired were not even from a real gun — they were blanks from a starter pistol that he carried as a prop. The lawyer said Relli knew this, and that was why he was so fearless walking after him.

“Oh it was a real gun,” Relli testified Wednesday, saying he knew because of his scraped hand.

He said he felt free to follow and shout at Rocky because “I felt like because he put it away and we’re on a busy street in Hollywood. He’s definitely not gonna shoot it.”

Since the shooting, and his decision to go to police and testify, he has gotten death threats and has been shunned as a snitch, he said, and the modest music management career he built fell apart.

“It’s been a living hell,” Relli said.

About an hour after the shooting, Relli returned to the scene and said he photographed and recovered two shell casings. Earlier, while responding to a report of a shooting, police did not find any.

He sent a text to Rocky that was shown in court saying “U try killing me.”

Rocky denied it in his reply.

“Bro wtf is u talkin bout why u tell ppl I shot at u.”

He sent Rocky photos of the shell casings and his grazed hand.

Rocky said he was making stuff up and speaking “all type of nonsense” and was trying to “extort” him.

The court day ended after just a few hours of testimony because of scheduling issues. Rihanna was shuffled out through a restricted exit by deputies, and Rocky left separately through the main courthouse doors.

The defense will begin their cross-examination of Relli on Thursday.

Raised in Harlem, Rocky’s rap songs became a phenomenon in New York in 2011. He had his mainstream breakthrough when his first studio album went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2013. The second one, in 2015, did the same.

He’s set to have his biggest career year as a multimedia star. This Sunday, he’s nominated for a Grammy Award for best music video for his song “Tailor Swif,” at the ceremony at Crypto.com Arena just two miles (3 kilometers) from the Los Angeles courthouse where his trial’s being held.

He’s also set to headline the Rolling Loud Music Festival, to star opposite Denzel Washington in a film directed by Spike Lee, and to co-chair the Met Gala in May.

But the prospect of a conviction and the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence casts a shadow over all of it.

Rocky and Rihanna, both 36, have two sons together: 2-year-old RZA Athelston Mayers and 1-year-old Riot Rose Mayers. She revealed she was pregnant with the younger boy after headlining the Super Bowl halftime show in 2023 with a visible baby bump.

The singer and the rapper, who are both fashion moguls, first became close when he provided a verse to her 2012 song “Cockiness (Love It)” and they performed it at the MTV Video Music Awards. They became a couple in 2020.

Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press