A$AP Rocky and his wife Rihanna already have a name in mind for baby number three: Joe.
The rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was found not guilty of felony assault on Tuesday after a jury deliberated for three hours in Los Angeles.
Rocky’s lawyer Joe Tacopina later claimed in an interview with Extra that the couple told him they’d name their next child after him.
“Rihanna and Rocky said to me in the courtroom yesterday, they grabbed me and they said, ‘Listen, our next baby is A$AP Joe,’” Tacopina told Billy Bush on Wednesday. “I said, ‘I’m gonna hold you to that!’”
The rapper and the “Umbrella” singer are currently parents to two sons, two-year-old RZA and one-year-old Riot.
Tacopina also revealed what Rocky said to him after the verdict, telling Bush he said “some very nice things.”
“I mean, he told me he loved me, and we’re family,” he said.
Rocky was charged with two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. If convicted, he could have faced up to 24 years in prison.
On the eve of trial, the rapper turned down a prosecution offer of just six months in jail, along with probation and other conditions, if he would plead guilty to one count.
Prosecutors alleged that Rocky twice fired a gun at his former longtime friend and fellow rapper A$AP Relli, during a 2021 dispute on a Hollywood street.
After hearing that he was found not guilty on both counts Rocky ran to embrace jubilant supporters behind him — falling over as he did so. “Thank y’all for saving my life,” he told the jurors as he left the courtroom.
During his interview with Extra, the lawyer provided insight into how Rocky was feeling in the lead-up to the verdict.
“He didn’t know if he was going to go home and see his two babies that night or start a, you know, a decade-long prison sentence, literally, that day, and he looked at me, and he grabbed me, and he said, ‘Joe, I want you to know I know how hard you fought here. I know everything you’ve done, and I just appreciate you so much. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me… and we’re in this together no matter what, and I love you,’” he said.
“It was special that he did that,” Tacopina. “That’s why I got emotional in that summation at the end, five and a half hours of me speaking straight to a jury. At the end, it all crescendoed when I started talking about him and how important he is to me, and how good of a person he is and Rihanna and their family, and how much I appreciated them putting their trust in me.”
On Tuesday night, Rihanna posted a short statement on her Instagram Story celebrating the victory. “The glory belongs to god and god alone! Thankful, humbled by his mercy,” her message read.
