Why Rihanna Brought Her and A$AP Rocky’s Kids to Court

Bringing kids to court isn’t exactly a typical family outing, but for Rihanna, there was a good reason.

On Tuesday, February 18, the 36-year-old Barbadian artist’s boyfriend, A$AP Rocky, was found not guilty on two felony assault charges, ending a years-long legal battle over a 2021 altercation with former friend and A$AP Mob member A$AP Relli (Terell Ephron). Throughout the trial, Rihanna was by his side — and toward the end, she showed up with their sons, RZA, 2, and Riot, 1, in tow.

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It didn’t take long for the internet to speculate. Was she trying to sway the jury? Not at all, according to A$AP Rocky’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina.

“People were thinking it was a ploy, like some sort of maneuver to get the jury to feel sympathy,” the 58-year-old criminal defense attorney said during a Monday, February 24 interview on The Breakfast Club. “The jury’s not feeling sympathy — they know he has a wife and kids.” (For the record, Rihanna and the “F**kin’ Problems” hitmaker aren’t legally married.)

So why did she bring them? Tacopina explained it was a last-minute decision — and a personal one. “She brought them to court because that could’ve been the last time he’d seen his kids for a decade or more,” he said. “That’s why she brought them. The prosecutor made a big deal of it in his summation, which I think was a fatal mistake quite frankly.”

For those who missed it, District Attorney John Lewin didn’t hold back his thoughts on the courtroom cameo. “I want to make sure that no matter how famous his [partner] is, no matter how cute his kids are, no matter how much they giggle during closing arguments… he needs to be treated like any other person,” he said during closing arguments on Friday, February 14. “Because in the end, that’s what he’s entitled to.”

But if A$AP Rocky had his way, the “Umbrella” singer wouldn’t have been in the courtroom at all — and definitely not with their kids. “He didn’t want her there. He was very protective of her,” Tacopina told a reporter after the verdict. “I was sort of supporting his decision to keep her away. But this is not — the trial’s not about Rihanna.”

Rihanna, however, had other plans. According to Tacopina, she went straight to him behind A$AP Rocky’s back to make it clear she wasn’t sitting this one out. “She called me one day and she’s like, ‘Joe, wild horses aren’t going to keep me away, so you let him know that I’m coming and deal with him,’” he said.

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