Rihanna attends the trial of her partner, rapper A$AP Rocky, who is accused in a 2021 shooting

In a crucial cross-examination for A$AP Rocky's defense, his lawyer yesterday challenged the testimony of the plaintiff, who claimed he was injured in the hand when the hip-hop artist shot at him in 2021.

Superstar Rihanna, Rocky’s partner and the mother of their two children, watched the proceedings from the gallery. The witness, Rocky's former friend, who goes by the name A$AP Relli, underwent his second day of cross-examination, during which he appeared visibly frustrated and at times even angry.

Rihanna entered the courtroom through the public entrance about 30 minutes after the trial began, marking her third day in attendance. She sat next to Rocky’s mother. After the lunch break, she entered the courtroom with Rocky for the first time. Previously, she had been entering the court discreetly.

Under questioning by the prosecution, Relli had testified that his hand felt hot and was grazed when Rocky shot at him on a Hollywood street. A photo showed a graze on his knuckles.

He did not seek medical attention until two days later in New York. "You waited that long, flew across the country to seek medical attention?" defense attorney Joe Tacopina asked. "I wrapped my hand that night," Relli responded, before admitting that he did indeed wrap it.

He said that after the incident, “I don’t trust LA, I don’t trust nobody.” Through their opening statements and cross-examination, Rocky’s lawyers suggested that Relli sought medical attention only because his lawyer in his civil case and a detective told him he should. Tacopina also questioned his short stay at the hospital. “That was one hour and 36 minutes after the shooting, correct?” the lawyer asked. “That was two days later,” Relli responded.

Anticipating the defense's strategy, the prosecution told jurors in opening statements that whether or not Relli was injured is irrelevant to the charges in this case—two counts of assault with a semi-automatic firearm. If convicted on both counts, Rocky could face a maximum of 24 years in prison.

The verdict could mark a major turning point in the rapper's life. This weekend, he is nominated for his third Grammy Award at an awards ceremony being held just two miles from the trial location at the Crypto.com Arena. Rocky’s lawyers have argued that information disclosed before his trial shows that the gun he fired was a starter pistol, loaded only with blanks, and he was simply using it as a prop for security. They claim Relli knew this.

Relli testified under prosecution questioning that he was unaware Rocky was carrying a gun. When Tacopina returned to the issue, Relli was evasive. “I don’t hang out with him every day, I don’t know,” he said. “From the times I hung out with him, I didn’t know he had a gun.”

Tacopina continued, “Well, one thing you do know for sure is that he certainly doesn’t carry a prop gun.” “Who carries a prop gun?” Relli responded. “Who would carry a prop gun in that situation?”

After the jury took a lunch break, a heated argument broke out between Tacopina and Deputy District Attorney John Lewin, stemming from Tacopina showing Relli a sexually explicit photo of his girlfriend to confirm her identity. Lewin argued this was an attempt to provoke the witness and that the defense's entire case failed to address the actual events, including "this prop gun garbage!" "Oh?! Oh!?" Tacopina retorted loudly. "We'll see what the jury says at the end!"

Tacopina then called Relli a perjurer and said the prosecutor was covering for him. As the argument grew louder and more personal, the judge, seemingly disgusted, walked out. He had previously instructed the frequently clashing pair to only speak to each other on the record. Although the cameras were off, they were indeed speaking on the record at that time. Rocky and Rihanna, both 36, have two sons: two-year-old RZA Athelston Mayers and one-year-old Riot Rose Mayers.