Defamation claims against A$AP Rocky and his attorney dodge anti-SLAPP bullet

LOS ANGELES (CN) — A Superior Court Judge on Thursday denied an effort by A$AP Rocky attorney Joe Tacopina to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed by the man who said the rapper shot him in the hand in 2021.

The hulking Brooklyn-born Tacopina had filed an anti-SLAPP motion, a legal maneuver used to quickly dismiss lawsuits that are aimed at chilling free speech and public participation. Tacopina had argued that his statements made to the media, calling A$AP Rocky’s accuser, Terell Ephron, a liar and a “gold digger,” were protected by the litigation privilege, which shields statements made throughout the course of a judicial proceeding from defamation claims.

But Superior Court Judge Randolph Hammock disagreed, finding that the litigation privilege doesn’t cover interviews to TMZ and other outlets.

Ephron, otherwise known as A$AP Relli, was old friends with A$AP Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, and is in a relationship with the pop star Rihanna. That friendship ended one night in Hollywood in 2021, when Mayers pulled out a gun and fired two shots at Ephron, who was formerly a part of the A$AP rap collective.

Ephron claimed that one of the bullets grazed his hand and sued Mayers, who was also charged with felony assault by the district attorney. Tacopina represented Mayers throughout the three-week trial earlier this year, which featured nearly a week of testimony by Ephron, who cut an agitated figure on the stand. Tacopina told the jury that Mayers’ gun was actually a prop gun, while prosecutors couldn’t say for sure if the scrape on Ephron’s hand was the result of a bullet or no. In February, a jury found Mayers not guilty.

In addition to suing Mayers for assault, Ephron also sued Mayers and Tacopina for defamation. Tacopina, who rose to prominence in 2023 when he unsuccessfully defended President Donald Trump in a pair of trials, had given a number of interviews excoriating Ephron, calling his claims “an extortion attempt by a former associate,” and saying, “Relli has made up the story in a get-rich-quick scheme.”

“A$AP Rocky is the victim of a failed shakedown and fabricated shooting accusation orchestrated by his jealous former friend A$AP Relli," he told another outlet.

“As a result of defendants’ malicious publication of the false and defamatory statements identified herein,” Ephron said in his lawsuit, filed in LA Superior Court. “Plaintiff has received several death threats on social media and otherwise, has been the subject of ridicule and abuse, has lost esteem in the community and has suffered extreme emotional distress and other damages.”

Ephron was on the precipice of having his case dismissed after he and his original set of lawyers parted ways. During a hearing last month, Hammock urged Ephron, representing himself, to settle the case, or risk losing the anti-SLAPP motion, which would mean he would have to pay Tacopina’s attorneys’ fees.

“Maybe you might think about making a deal with them,” Hammock suggested.

“I’m already invested in $500,000,” replied a defiant Ephron. “I’m kind of stuck on my own.”

Ephron did find a new attorney, and Hammock didn’t have to think too hard before issuing his ruling denying the anti-SLAPP.

Tacopina’s lawyer, Rachel Salvin, argued that her client’s interviews were covered by the litigation privilege because “those same statements were also made during the course of the opening statements in the criminal trial.” But Hammock, as is his habit, was quick to interrupt the attorney.

“Those would be protected by the litigation privilege,” Hammock said. “But the statements that Mr. Ephron is making were not made in that context. Is the word spin? This was spin — a lawyer spinning for his client.”

Hammock wrote in his tentative ruling, later adopted as final: “Tacopina’s charged statements were made to shape the public opinion, not to ‘achieve the objects of the litigation’ in any way.”

Although the judge is likely to hand Ephron a win, it wasn’t all good news for the struggling music producer. Ephron had asked for the judge to order Tacopina to pay for his attorney’s fees, arguing that the anti-SLAPP motion had been filed frivolously. But Hammock denied the request, writing: “The court finds it was not frivolous or solely intended to cause delay as those terms are used in the statute. Therefore, no award of fees is justified for either side.”

If Tacopina chooses to appeal the ruling, it would delay the case for at least a year or two. If not, the case would move forward toward a trial, in which Ephron will have to prove that Tacopina and Mayers’ statements to the press were intentionally false — not opinion or hyperbole, but demonstrably false — and that they hurt Ephron.

“Today is no win for A$AP Relli,” A$AP Rocky’s attorney Josh Sargent said after the hearing. “He still bears the burden of proving every claim he raised against Rocky in this case.”

Ephron’s other civil lawsuit against Mayers over accusations of assault and battery is currently in mediation. A jury trial has been tentatively scheduled for January 2026.

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