The rapper had faced two felony counts of assault with a firearm in connection with a 2021 altercation in Los Angeles.
ASAP Rocky, the Grammy nominated hip-hop artist, was found not guilty on Tuesday of shooting a former collaborator. The jury deliberated for nearly three hours in a case that threatened to derail his career.
Rocky, 36, born Rakim Mayers, faced two felony counts of assault with a deadly weapon, stemming from an altercation with his one-time friend, Terell Ephron, known as ASAP Relli, near a Hollywood hotel in 2021.
Mr. Mayers dived into the gallery to hug family including Rihanna, the singer, businesswoman, and mother of his two young sons, and embraced his lawyer, Joe Tacopina, after the verdict was read.
“Thank y’all for saving my life,” he told jurors.
The trial hinged on jurors’ assessment of the gun used in the incident, which prosecutors said was a semiautomatic firearm and witnesses for the defense testified was instead a prop gun acquired at the filming of a music video. No gun was presented as evidence in the trial and Mr. Mayers did not take the stand in his defense. He faced up to 24 years in prison if convicted of both counts.
Mr. Mayers faced trial at a time when he had several notable projects in the works. He is scheduled to be one of the headliners of the Los Angeles stop of the Rolling Loud festival in March, and was announced as one of the celebrity chairs for the Met Gala, to be held in May. He also stars alongside Denzel Washington in a Spike Lee-directed movie scheduled to open in summer.
John Lewin, a deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County, had asked the jury not to be swayed by the court appearances of Rihanna, who was a frequent presence during the 13-day trial and attended the start of closing arguments last week with the pair’s two young sons.
