Earlier today, A$AP Rocky dealt with the second day of his trial. Both Rocky and his accuser Mustafa Jafari, 19, spent time taking the stand. Jafari was cross-examined by Rocky’s lawyer Slobodan Jovicic, recounts of the situation were recorded by BBC News correspondents Larissa Kennelly and Maddy Savage. We begin with Jafari maintaining that he was “looking for a friend,” when he stumbled upon Rocky’s entourage outside a restaurant; according to him, he had no idea that Rocky was a well-known personality, as he failed to see any swarming fans in the vicinity.
Jafari said he was allegedly beaten with a bottle, a frame-by-frame analysis of all available video footage, complete with strategically drawn red circles, seem to indicate a lack of makeshift weaponry. Rocky’s lawyer questioned that approaching a group of men while looking for a friend did not exactly feel like “sober behavior.” Basically, the man was under the influence looking to cause trouble.
When it was Rocky’s time to say his peace, he explained that hat he and his team intended on touring Sweden via electric scooters, a journey that brought them outside Max’s Restaurant. It was there he crossed paths with Jafari, and the rest has come to be shown through a video. As Rocky explains, his bodyguard ultimately moved to forcibly distance Jafari, who retaliated with the headphone strike.
Rocky was uncomfortable with Jafari approaching him, so he did pick up a bottle to defend himself. As he tells it, however, he soon realized it was a mistake and discarded it. By now though, the situation was intensifying, and as we know, a violent fight did indeed break out.
Despite his bodyguard’s best efforts, Jafari was persistent and continued to follow the men down an alleyway. At this point, prosecutors appear to focus on Rocky’s bottle, sharing footage of him hiding the weapon in his sleeve. He maintains that he hid the bottle as a safeguard, but kept it hidden as to avoid provoking the already agitated accuser. Eventually, Rocky attempts to contextualize his behavior, explaining that his celebrity status has brought him close to a large number of strange people. As such, it’s difficult for him to remain calm in situations of this nature. Following Rocky’s words, the court called a break.
Back on. The procedures opened up with Rocky being questioned about his “edited” Instagram footage. Rocky assures that the edits were made for a specific reason. “Us melanin Americans tend to use the n word excessively,” he explains. He also establishes that while a bottle was picked up, one was never used during the fight itself. As of now, the updates are ongoing, so we’ll be sure to keep you posted with further developments.
