The New York rapper ASAP Rocky was arrested on Wednesday in Los Angeles on a charge of assault with a deadly weapon stemming from an alleged nonfatal shooting last year, the police said.
The musician, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, 33, had just landed in Los Angeles following a private flight from Barbados along with his pregnant girlfriend, the pop singer and fashion entrepreneur Rihanna. The trip had been extensively documented by celebrity media and paparazzi.
The shooting occurred in the Hollywood area on Nov. 6, 2021, around 10:15 p.m., during an argument “between two acquaintances,” the Los Angeles Police Department said in a news release. “The argument escalated and resulted in the suspect firing a handgun at the victim,” who was later treated for a minor injury.
Rocky and two other men then fled the scene on foot, the authorities said.
The Los Angeles Police Department declined to comment further. Representatives for the rapper did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rocky, who has also worked as an actor and model, broke out early last decade as the leading man of the Harlem-based, internet-fluent rap collective ASAP Mob, and has since released three major-label albums, collaborating widely with artists like Kendrick Lamar, Drake and Lana Del Rey.
In 2019, Rocky was found guilty for his part in a Stockholm street fight that became a closely watched international incident involving then-President Donald J. Trump. Rocky and two members of his entourage had said they were acting in self-defense when they kicked and punched a 19-year-old man who they claimed was harassing their group.
But a panel of four judges in Sweden, citing witness statements, said the group was “not subject to imminent attack,” and therefore “not entitled to use violence in self-defense.” Rocky was not sentenced to any jail time, having already spent more than a month in Swedish detention awaiting trial.
Mr. Trump kept a close eye on the case after the rap mogul Kanye West asked his then-wife, Kim Kardashian, for the White House’s help in seeking Rocky’s return to the United States. (Kardashian had developed a close relationship with the White House as an advocate for prison reform.) The president made a personal phone call to Sweden’s prime minister and later dispatched a special envoy for hostage affairs to observe the trial.
Swedish officials, including the prime minister, said repeatedly at the time that they would not intervene in the case, citing the rule of law.
Rocky’s level of fame has increased of late in connection to his relationship with Rihanna, 34, an international superstar across fashion, music and more. The singer currently appears pregnant on the cover of Vogue, following her announcement in January that she was expecting her first child with the rapper.
“I love the simple things but also the grand adventures,” Rihanna told Vogue of her relationship with Rocky. “I just feel like I can do any part of life by his side.” He has called her “the love of my life.”