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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - An attorney for rapper A$AP Rocky who also has represented former President Donald Trump is asking a judge to dismiss a defamation claim filed against the lawyer and his law firm by hip hop artist A$AP Relli.
Relli, whose real name is Terell Ephron, is suing the rapper and his criminal case defense lawyer, Joe Tacopina, in Los Angeles Superior Court. Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, pleaded not guilty in August 2022 in his ongoing criminal case in which the 35-year-old allegedly shot and injured Relli during an altercation in downtown Hollywood in November 2021. The case is awaiting trial.
Relli is a member of the hip hop collective A$AP Mob. Tacopina is a personal attorney for Trump.
In court papers filed Thursday with Judge Randolph M. Hammock, attorneys for Tacopina and his firm, Tacopina, Siegel and DeOreo, cite numerous defenses, including that anything Tacopina said that is alleged to be defamatory was opinion and constitutionally protected. The Tacopina lawyers also maintain that Tacopina said nothing false, that the plaintiff was not harmed and that Relli is not entitled to punitive damages.
Tacopina's attorneys say Relli's "frivolous" lawsuit should be dismissed and that judgment be entered in favor of their client.
Relli claims that Tacopina launched a damaging media campaign that portrayed him as a liar, money-grabber and extortionist, allegedly at the direction of Rocky, causing the plaintiff to receive death threats.
Relli also is suing Rocky in a separate suit for assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. In response to Relli's first suit, Rocky and Tacopina "commenced a press campaign to impugn and malign (Relli), painting him in the press as a liar, a money grabber and a blackmailer," the suit alleges.
Among other things, Tacopina allegedly said during a media interview that Rocky "is the victim of a failed shakedown and fabricated shooting accusation orchestrated by his jealous former friend, A$AP Relli."
The statement and other remarks were false, malicious and have caused Relli severe reputational, emotional and financial harm that must be addressed, the suit states.
Rocky and Tacopina, a lawyer who knows the statements were false, have not corrected or retracted any of them, the suit alleges.