The prosecution is not happy that Rihanna brought her sons Rza and Riot to court for her husband A$AP Rocky’s gun assault trial.
The rapper, real name Rakim Mayers, is standing trial charged with two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic weapon.
He is accused of firing a gun at a friend in 2021, but he pleaded not guilty and rejected a plea deal that would have seen him serve six months in prison and a seven-year suspended sentence.
Recently, Umbrella hitmaker Rihanna, 36, was spotted arriving at the courtroom in Los Angeles with Rza, two, and Riot, one.
District Attorney John Lewin has advised the jury in the case not to be swayed by the appearance of his sons being brought into the courtroom by their mother.
‘This is not something you’re allowed to consider,’ he told the jury, according to People. ‘We are all responsible for what we do.
‘I want to make sure that no matter how famous his [partner] is, no matter how cute his kids are, no matter how much they giggle during closing arguments… he needs to be treated like any other person. Because in the end that’s what he’s entitled to.’
Both of the toddlers were wearing blue suits as they arrived to support their father, 36, who was initially arrested in 2022 following the alleged incident.
Rihanna and her husband were said to be upset by the remarks and after a break, the judge addressed the comments from Lewin.
They told the court: ‘From here on out, there should be no mention of Rihanna being in the courtroom or the babies being in the courtroom.’
The Fenty Beauty mogul has been in court most days with her husband, flanked by heavy security as she enters and leaves the building.
However, she was confronted by a heckler who appeared with a poster in protest as she arrived at court on Friday, February 14,
Rihanna was unfazed by the interaction and continued to walk past them with the help of her security guard, who was carrying roses for Valentine’s Day.
NBC News reported that Mayers has declined to take the stand in his own defence.
The musician claims he was holding a fake gun on the night of the alleged incident, which he carried for security reasons.
His lawyer, Joe Tacopina, has further claimed that the starting pistol only fires blanks.
Mayers is said to have taken the prop from the set of his music video for DMB, which featured Rihanna.
Lou Levin appeared in court to defend Mayers, saying: ‘Security and I thought it would be a good idea, because of the prior violence.
‘It’s just a nonlethal form of self-defence.’
A$AP Relli, real name Terell Ephron, claims Mayers held a gun to his stomach and said: ‘I’ll kill you right now.’
He then alleges the musician fired at least four shots, one of which is said to have hit Relli’s hand.
In a separate lawsuit, Ephron has claimed that he’s a victim of emotional distress, assault and battery, and negligence.
Ephron claims he was ‘lured’ to an ‘obscure location’ outside LA’s W Hotel on November 6 2021 to iron out a disagreement.
A$AP Twelvyy testified that Mayers fired the shots as a warning to stop Ephron from attacking fellow A$AP Mob crew member A$AP Illz.
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Tacopina branded the key prosecution witness and accuser ‘an angry pathological liar’ who ‘committed perjury again and again and again and again.’
The incident was captured on CCTV footage, which prosecutors claim shows Mayers firing the weapon. His attorneys denied the claims and argued the footage should not be permissible as evidence.
Following the closing arguments on Thursday, the jury will begin deliberations on a verdict.
If convicted, Mayers could face up to 24 years in prison.
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