LEGAL BATTLES

A$AP Rocky Testifies in Sweden, Claims He Tried to Avoid Fight

“Me and my crew told them that, ‘Listen, don’t go where we are going. Go the other way, we don’t want any trouble,’” the rapper said.

In Swedish court, rapper A$AP Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, pleaded not guilty, testifying that he did his best to avoid a fight with two men who were following his entourage in Sweden. Mayers is accused of beating a 19-year-old man, Mustafa Jafari, in Stockholm. Mayers, who appeared in court in an all-green inmate uniform, told Stockholm District Court that Jafari and his friend refused to leave despite a few appeals and said it looked they were under the influence of drugs. “Me and my crew told them that, ‘Listen, don’t go where we are going. Go the other way, we don’t want any trouble,’” Mayers said. The rapper’s mother, Renee Black, and several relatives were present in the courtroom Thursday. “He has no regrets. The only regret he has regarding this situation is that the two boys wouldn’t let them be alone, that they just would not let them go away,” the rapper’s lawyer said. Mayers faces up to two years in prison if convicted.