Aap Rocky Faces Assault Charges: Defense Claims Prop Gun Used In Incident

AAP Rocky was carrying a harmless prop gun from a music video on the night he allegedly shot a former friend in Hollywood, his lawyer told court Friday, as his trial on assault charges got underway.

The 36-year-old, who has two children with singer Rihanna , faces two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm during confrontations with Terell Ephron on November 6, 2021.

The rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was arrested in April 2022 at Los Angeles International Airport after arriving on a private plane from Barbados, where he and Rihanna had been on vacation.

Prosecutors say Mayers pulled a gun on Ephron - also known as AAP Relli - after a heated argument in the heart of Hollywood, firing on one occasion and causing a minor graze.

The two had previously been friends, and had both been part of ASAP, a rap collective from New York, but had fallen out because other members of the group felt Mayers' commercial success had made him arrogant.