American rapper Rakim Mayers known professionally as A$AP Rocky has been found not guilty on Tuesday of all charges where he was accused of shooting his former friend.

The Grammy nominated artiste was charged with two felony counts of assault after an argument near a Hollywood hotel with his sometime friend Terell Ephron known as ASAP Relli in 2021.

The jury said, “We the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant Rakim Mayers not guilty of the crime.”

A video shared by Reuters, the artiste rushed to hug his lawyers and his girlfriend, Rihanna.

Walking out of the court, speaking with the reporters he said, “We wanna thank God first, I really want to thank the jury for making the right decision. Blessed to be a free man talking to y’all.” 

According to the New York Times, surveillance videos were released, showing Rocky pulling out a gun which was argued to be a prop.

Relli alleged that Rocky arrived with two men, Jamel Phillips, known as ASAP Twelvyy, and Illijah Ulanger, known as ASAP Illz.

Prosecutors claimed that a few minutes after Relli and Rocky argued, Rocky pulled a gun from his waistband while Relli attempted to hide behind Illz.

Twelvyy and another defense witness argued that Rocky had fired blanks from à prop gun he had been carrying months ahead for safety, advised by a security guard, and  that Relli was aware of this.

The police found no evidence of a weapon at the scene, however Relli testified that Rocky returned to the area later that night and retrieved two nine-millimeter shell casings.