A$AP Rocky and his defence legal professional Joe Tacopina have been sued by former A$AP Mob member, A$AP Relli.
The defamation lawsuit, obtained by Rolling Stone, was filed by A$AP Relli – actual identify Terell Ephron – and alleges that Tacopina and Rocky launched a smear marketing campaign towards Ephron within the wake of a capturing incident allegedly involving the pair in 2021.
The brand new lawsuit stems from the continued legal costs which allege that Rocky shot and injured Ephron throughout an altercation in Downtown Hollywood in November 2021. Following that case – which noticed Rocky plead not responsible to 2 costs of assault with a semiautomatic firearm final August – Ephron now claims that the rapper and his lawyer have defamed his character within the press.
In an announcement offered to Pitchfork, a consultant for Ephron mentioned statements made by Tacopina within the media all through 2022 “have been false and malicious, and have triggered Mr. Ephron excessive reputational and emotional hurt which should be remedied”.
Ephron claims that public statements made by Tacopina, at Rocky’s behest, led to wreck to his popularity, private model and future earnings, in addition to his standing as a member of A$AP Mob. The lawsuit claims Ephron obtained loss of life threats and was topic to ridicule as a part of Tacopina’s press marketing campaign to “impugn and malign” his character.
In alternate, Ephron is searching for punitive or exemplary damages, plus authorized charges. The lawsuit outlines ten situations the place Ephron was allegedly defamed within the press, together with one case the place Tacopina informed retailers that Ephron was extorting Rocky via litigation. The 33-page lawsuit claims that Tacopina smeared Ephron’s identify in Rolling Stone and TMZ, in addition to on a radio present final September.
In an announcement to Rolling Stone, Tacopina – who has beforehand represented former President Donald Trump and rapper Meek Mill – mentioned he “welcomes this litigation”. He continued: “It’s unlucky that these attorneys don’t know the information of this case or the actions of their shopper however I might be pleased to teach them.”
In an announcement to TMZ, Tacopina described the case as “nothing greater than a publicity stunt which goes to backfire badly”. Rocky himself has not publicly responded to the lawsuit.
Rolling Stone stories that Ephron has retained legal professional Camille Vasquez, the defence lawyer who represented Johnny Depp in his defamation trial towards his ex-wife Amber Heard final 12 months.
The defamation swimsuit comes two months forward of Rocky’s scheduled preliminary listening to within the legal capturing case. If convicted, the rapper may resist 9 years in jail, although Tacopina has maintained his shopper’s innocence and alleged that Ephron was the aggressor within the 2021 incident.
“He tried to assault Rocky and another man received concerned, and he punched another man within the face and knocked his enamel out, and naturally now, in response to him, he’s a sufferer,” Tacopina informed Rolling Stone.
Ephron’s attorneys, in the meantime, declare that he was “lured” to a distant again alley, the place Rocky brandished a handgun “with out provocation” and “deliberately” fired a number of pictures, leading to bullet fragments to his hand.
