A$AP Rocky and Rihanna have told the rapper’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, that they plan to name their next child after him.
Tacopina, who defended Rocky in his recent shooting trial where he was found not guilty, spoke with Extra on Wednesday (February 19) about the high-profile case.
The attorney, who has previously worked with Donald Trump, shared the couple’s reaction to the verdict: “They grabbed me and they said, ‘Listen, our next baby is A$AP Joe.’”
Tacopina responded, telling Rocky and Rihanna, who have two children, “I’m gonna hold you to that.”
The 58-year-old also revealed what the Harlem rapper said to him just before the verdict was read: “He didn’t know if he was going to go home to see his two kids that night or begin a decade-long prison sentence that day.”
“He grabbed me and said, ‘Joe, I just want you to know, I know how hard you fought here. I know everything you’ve done, and I just appreciate you so much. We’re in this together, no matter what, and I love you.’”
Tacopina added: “That’s something rare. It’s obviously a very serious moment for him, and he had the presence of mind to say, ‘Let me thank this guy.’ It was special that he did that.”
A$AP Rocky celebrated his acquittal with a statement to the media outside the courthouse on Tuesday (February 18): “Thank God first. You gotta thank God first. And I really wanna thank the jury for making the right decision.
“I’m just so thankful. This is crazy right now. This whole experience has been crazy for the past four years, but I’m thankful nonetheless. We’re blessed to be here right now, to be a free man talking to y’all. All praise be to God.”
Rihanna also took to social media to praise the not-guilty verdict, writing: “The glory belongs to God and God alone! Thankful, humbled by his mercy.”
Rocky was accused of shooting his former friend and A$AP Mob member A$AP Relli during a dispute in Hollywood in November 2021, and he was arrested about six months later.
The rapper, whose legal team argued he fired a prop gun and had been targeted by Relli in an extortion plot, was acquitted of all charges.
Had he been convicted, he could have faced between eight and ten years in prison.
