A$AP Relli has abandoned his shooting lawsuit against A$AP Rocky.
A second trial in the case was due to take place early next year.
His lawyer told Billboard that he’s instead “focusing on rebuilding his life”.
Rocky (Rakim Mayers) was acquitted at a criminal trial in February of shooting Relli (Terrell Ephron), his childhood friend and onetime A$AP Mob collaborator, in 2021.
Relli brought an assault lawsuit in 2022 seeking financial damages from the star rapper over the same alleged incident.
The civil case was scheduled to go to trial in January, with Relli facing a lower burden of proof than the one prosecutors failed to meet in their criminal case against Rocky. But he has decided to drop the assault claims.
“At this point, he’s ready to simply move on from the shooting,” his lawyer explained. “The ordeal has been a nightmare for him, and the statements calling him a ‘liar’ and worse effectively eliminated his chances of a career in the industry.”
Relli is still pursuing a separate defamation lawsuit against both Rocky and his lawyer, Joe Tacopina, over press interviews in which they called the shooting claims “extortion” and a “get-rich-quick-scheme”.
Rocky and Relli were involved in an altercation near a Hollywood hotel in November 2021. Relli alleges Rocky fired a handgun at him twice during the argument, while the rapper maintains it was a prop gun filled with blanks.
Prosecutors charged Rocky with two felony assault counts in 2022. The Grammy-nominated rapper rejected a plea offer from prosecutors and went to trial. He was acquitted on both counts.
