LOS ANGELES (AP) — American rapper A$AP Rocky pleaded not guilty Wednesday to two counts of assault with a firearm for 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 semi-automatic weapon at a former friend during an argument in November.
He is said to have subsequently pulled out the gun and fired twice, leaving the man with what police described as “a minor injury”.
Mayers denied the charges. He was released on $550,000 bond and was ordered to appear in court again on November 2.
The “Praise the Lord (Da Shine)” artist was arrested for the incident at Los Angeles International Airport in April when he arrived on a private plane from Barbados.
US media 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 “Diamonds” and “Umbrella” 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 “love of my life” and “the one.
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Mayers, born in New York, was previously arrested in Stockholm in 2019 for a street fight.
He was held in Swedish custody for more than a month, in an incident that drew worldwide attention, and was given a suspended sentence.
