Day five of A$AP Rocky‘s shooting trial was a heated one as the rapper’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, got into a row with the alleged victim, A$AP Relli, during cross examination.
While Relli (real name Terell Ephron) was on the witness stand on Thursday (January 30), Tacopina began questioning the former A$AP Mob member about his personal life and past statements.
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The attorney: “In November 2021, you told people that you were a millionaire, is that correct?”
Relli replied: “Yes, no, I don’t know. I don’t know, it’s been so long, I can tell people whatever I want. If I’m a millionaire, not a millionaire, like, what? I’m not a millionaire, but what has that got to do with this case?”
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Relli became particularly agitated when Tacopina showed the court a social media post, snapping: “Why are you showing my Instagram? I’m already getting death threats. People threatening my daughter. Like, what’s going on here?”
Tacopina then asked Relli who had been threatening him, to which he replied, “The whole world.” He also claimed that it was because Rocky’s legal team were depicting him as an “extortionist.”
After the two bickered over Relli’s posts, Judge Mark Arnold eventually called a 10-minute break in an attempt to cool things down.
Another controversial moment came when the N-word was said several times by both Tacopina (who is white and was reading aloud evidence) and Relli.
Rocky could be heard speaking up during the livestream of the trial, appearing to object to the repeated use of the racial slur in open court.
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Judge Mark Arnold later ruled that use of the controversial word was banned from being used in court and that when it has to be read out due to evidence, the speaker should refer to it as the “N-word.”
In a combative day of the trial, which is expected to last at least another week, it was also revealed that A$AP Relli had deleted text messages that he had sent to A$AP Rocky.
Here is the clip of A$AP Rocky speaking up in trial after repeated use of the n-word by his lawyer and Relli during testimony about text messages. He speaks about 27 seconds in.
"Your Honor, can we refrain from…"
Judge cut him off and told him to talk to his counsel. pic.twitter.com/3LWeZEbljD
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) January 31, 2025
Here's Judge Arnold telling everyone to only say "n-word" from here on out. pic.twitter.com/TejYquBn92
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) January 31, 2025
The messages were sent before the pair’s confrontation in November 2021, which led to Rocky allegedly firing two shots at Relli and subsequently being charged with felony assault.
In screenshots displayed by Tacopina, Relli can be seen saying to Rocky: “You got all these fake animosity towards me lol beat me up,” “n-gga i wish u would,” “Give me a reason n-gga” and “U been a pussy.”
Relli initially claimed that the texts were fakes, but shortly after confessed that was a lie and that he deleted them before reporting the alleged shooting to the police.
He refused to provide a reason why he deleted the messages.
The high-profile trial continues on Friday (January 31), with Rocky facing up to 24 years in prison if convicted.
#ASAPRelli deleted a few choice text messages from his phone before #ASAPRocky allegedly shot him … and, they paint a picture of a more confrontational Relli.
Full story HERE: https://t.co/S6KXKbyDFypic.twitter.com/bEX4iqCfor
— TMZ (@TMZ) January 31, 2025
