A hip-hop artist is now representing himself in his two lawsuits against A$AP Rocky, who was acquitted of pulling a gun on the plaintiff during a 2021 altercation in Hollywood and then firing at him soon afterward.
A$AP Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was found not guilty by a Los Angeles Superior Court jury in February of two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm, along with allegations that he personally used a firearm during the pair of confrontations with plaintiff Terell Ephron the evening of Nov. 6, 2021.
Ephron is also known as A$AP Relli. The hip-hop singer sued Mayers, now 36, and Mayers’ attorney, Joseph Tacopina, in September 2023, alleging that they falsely portrayed him in the media as a liar, a money grabber and a blackmailer. He also filed suit against Mayers in August 2022 stemming from the alleged shooting. Both civil cases are in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Ephron was represented in both cases by Camille Vasquez, who was Johnny Depp’s lawyer in his dueling litigation with former spouse Amber Heard. On Monday, Vasquez filed court papers with Judges William Fahey and Randolph Hammock notifying both that she was withdrawing from the case and that Ephron would now be acting as his own attorney. No reason was given for the substitution.
In July 2024, Hammock placed a stay on Ephron’s defamation civil case in order to protect Mayers’ right against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment. But after the criminal case concluded, Hammock lifted the hold and scheduled a Sept. 8 hearing on Tacopina’s anti-SLAPP motion, which seeks to dismiss the part of the case against him on free-speech grounds.
The state’s anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) law is intended to prevent people from using courts, and potential threats of a lawsuit, to intimidate those who are exercising their First Amendment rights.
“The general public was incredibly interested in the allegations against Mr. Mayers and his opinion regarding their validity, or lack thereof,” Tacopina’s attorneys argue in their anti-SLAPP court papers. “The interviews and statements given by Mr. Tacopina on behalf of Mr. Mayers, and himself, absolutely fall under the protection of the anti-SLAPP statute.”