A$AP Rocky is breaking his silence on the time he served in a Stockholm prison after a 2019 brawl with a couple of men in Sweden.
In a documentary called “Stockholm Syndrome,” which premiered over the weekend at the Tribeca Film Festival, Rocky addressed what his thoughts were on then-President Donald Trump’s involvement in his assault case.
After overhearing Trump talking about his case, Rocky said he thought, “‘Aw sh-t. Look like I might do a bid.’” But after taking some time to think about what was happening, the “Praise the Lord” rapper started to have mixed feelings about it all. “I kinda was scared that Trump was going to f-ck it up. But then on the other hand, I’m just like, ‘That’s what’s up, man.’ You want the most support you could and it’s like, ‘Oh, the president supports you.’ That felt good,” he said.
He explained, “’Cause for the most part, I don’t think he ever knows what’s going on in the urban communities. … I was thankful for that, I can’t lie. I was also scared that it would jeopardize me being in [jail] longer.”
After Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was arrested for the physical altercation, which he said happened out of self-defense, many fans and celebrity friends used their voices to try and get him out of prison. He was held for three weeks until his trial. Surprisingly, after receiving a call from Kim Kardashian explaining Rocky’s situation, Trump became one of those powerful voices that called for Sweden to free him.
In July 2019, Trump said, “A$AP Rocky is a situation in Sweden. Sweden is a great country and they’re friends of mine. And we’re going to be calling, we’ll be talking to them. We already started.” He added, “I personally don’t know A$AP Rocky, but I can tell you he has tremendous support from the African-American community in this country.”
The outcome of Rocky’s trial ended in a guilty verdict, and he was sentenced to a two-year suspended sentence. That meant the rapper and his entourage, who were also convicted of the same crime, were not to commit any other crimes for two years or they would go back to prison.
After a few months went by, reports surfaced of Trump being upset that Rocky did not show him gratitude for what he believes was helping to get Rocky out of prison. Rocky’s response to that in the documentary is, “It was a chess move and they tried to strong-arm a lot.” The 32-year-old continued, “In reality, I had no problem saying thank you to the man, especially if he helped me. That’s the narrative they pushin’: That he got me out. And he didn’t free me. If anything, he made it a little worse.”
A few celebrities will be making an appearance in the documentary, like Kim Kardashian, Tyler the Creator, and even Rocky’s girlfriend, singer, fashion designer, and Fenty Beauty CEO Rihanna. The pair have been dating since last November and have been going strong ever since. Rocky even recently called her “the love of [his] life.”
In regard to Rihanna taking part in his documentary, Rocky told “Entertainment Tonight” about the significance of “having that support in real life,” adding, “it’s amazing and I’m honestly truly blessed, for real.”
