A$AP Rocky celebrated both in the courtroom on Tuesday (Feb. 18) after a jury ruled he was not guilty in his 2021 felony shooting case — the rapper jumped over the courtroom rail into the gallery where he and Rihanna embraced after hearing the verdict.
Turns out, Rocky wasn’t the only one celebrating. Many artists across hip-hop showed their support for Rocky after the verdict came down, including 50 Cent, Nicki Minaj, Ye (formerly Kanye West), Papoose and more.
“To God Be The Glory,” Minaj posted to her Instagram Story with a photo of RiRi and Rocky holding their two kids Riot and RZA.
West, who teamed up with Rocky for “Jukebox Joints” in 2015, posted a black-and-white photo of the Harlem native in court, which he captioned with a praying hands emoji after learning the not guilty verdict. Ye’s Instagram post has compiled over 1.6 million likes in 14 hours as of press time.
50 Cent took a break from trashing Joe Budden to take a victory lap regarding A$AP Rocky’s case as he allegedly predicted that Rocky was going to beat the case and was willing to bet $500,000 on it.
“Not Guilty I told [ninja]’s I would bet 500,000 K he gonna beat it when ASAP Tellie started getting tired of telling 5 days straight BOOM Now stay sucker free,” he wrote to IG.
Filmmaker Spike Lee celebrated the verdict and thanked the judge and jury for their ruling. He also took the chance to promote his upcoming Highest 2 Lowest movie starring A$AP Rocky alongside Denzel Washington, which is coming to theaters this summer.
“Good Morning, Thanks To The Judge And Jury For The NOT GUILTY VERDICT,” he wrote. “A$AP And DENZEL WASHINGTON Are [fire] In HIGHEST 2 LOWEST. DA New SPIKE LEE JOINT This SUMMER. And DAT’S DA ‘ 40 ACRES AND A MULE’ TRUTH,RUTH.,YA-DIG SHO-NUFF.”
Papoose posted the viral clip of Rocky diving into the courtroom gallery. “I know on the internet everything is a joke. But man I’m so happy for this dude. Peace to Asap & his family! God is good,” the rapper added in his caption.
If found guilty, Rocky faced up to 24 years in prison, but prosecutors were seeking an eight-year sentence. Rocky and Rihanna celebrated the verdict outside the Los Angeles Superior Court as the three-week trial came to a close. “THE GLORY BELONGS TO GOD AND GOD ALONE! THANKFUL, HUMBLED BY HIS MERCY,” she wrote in an Instagram Story.
The rapper thanked the jurors in a brief post-verdict presser. “First of all, we want to thank God,” he said. “We really want to thank the jury for making the right decision … We’re blessed to be here right now, to be a free man talking to y’all.”
Rocky was arrested in April 2022 at Los Angeles International Airport after being accused of firing a handgun twice at former friend A$AP Relli (born Terrell Ephron) near a Hollywood hotel in November 2021. He faced two felony counts of assault with a firearm.
