LOS ANGELES — A$AP Rocky is at a crossroads. He could soar to new heights of celebrity in 2025, or be brought back to earth quickly by a trial starting Tuesday that could led to his imprisonment for years.

The hip-hop star, and longtime partner to Rihanna, with whom he has two toddler sons, is set to touch the highest levels of high fashion as one of the celebrity chairs of the Met Gala in May along with Pharrell Williams, LeBron James and others.

And his modest acting career will get a major boost from starring alongside Denzel Washington in director Spike Lee's “Highest 2 Lowest,” planned for a summer release.

But at the Los Angeles trial that's expected to last about three weeks, he is charged with two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. He's accused of firing on a former friend on the streets near a Hollywood hotel in 2021. If convicted, he could get up to 24 years in prison.

The 36-year-old has pleaded not guilty, and his attorney says he committed no crime.

“We’re ready to go. It’s been a long time,” defense lawyer Joe Tacopina said after a hearing Wednesday. “It’s been something that’s waiting over Rocky’s head and Rihanna and their family’s heads for a while. We’re anxious to get this thing underway and get this behind him.”

The trial has its roots in high school in New York, when the Harlem-raised Rakim Mayers, now known as A$AP Rocky, met Terell Ephron, also known as A$AP Relli, who will be the trial's most important witness.

Ephron testified at a 2023 preliminary hearing that he brought Rocky into a crew of young creators who called themselves A$AP — for “Always Strive and Prosper.”

“We had dreams, pretty much,” Ephron said.

He testified that the members remained close even as Rocky became rich and famous, but the relationships would eventually erode.

The feud came to a head in Hollywood on the night of Nov. 6, 2021, when according to Ephron, Rocky fired at him three or four times, the shots grazing his knuckles.

Ephron went to the police two days later, and brought shell casings he had picked up himself — both points the defense will seize on.

“You need nothing more than Mr. Ephron’s testimony by itself,” Deputy District Attorney Paul Przelomiec, the case's lead prosecutor, told a judge at the 2023 hearing,

Those anticipating the trial have long been asking whether Rihanna may attend.

“The mother of his children is she going to be here?” Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold asked the defense at an October hearing. “She’s welcome to be here whenever she wants, I’d just like to know.”

Tacopina has been unable to give a definitive answer, but has said that he does not expect it.

“He’s very protective of Rihanna and doesn’t want her anywhere near this proceeding,” he said after Wednesday's hearing. “But that’s a family decision they’ll make.”

Tacopina said he has no intention of bringing Rihanna's name up at trial, but Arnold suggested he may when screening jurors.

The case against Rocky will largely depend on how credible the jurors find Ephron.

Police officers who searched the Hollywood sidewalk after a report of shots fired found no shell casings. Police recovered no fingerprints from the 9 mm casings Ephron brought them, and no 9 mm pistol was found when a search warrant was served on Rocky.

Surveillance video captured parts of the incident.

Tacopina said he has not decided whether Rocky will testify, which he is legally allowed to avoid.

“He is eager to tell his story, he would love the opportunity to do so,” the lawyer said Wednesday. “He is very articulate and very intelligent, he’s a good human being, that would come out if he testifies, but that decision has not been made yet. It depends on how the case goes.”

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Rapper Busta Rhymes accused of punching a man in the face in New York

NEW YORK — Rapper Busta Rhymes has been accused of repeatedly punching another man in the face, police said Friday.

Police said Rhymes, whose legal name is Trevor Smith, was issued a desk appearance ticket for third-degree assault, a misdemeanor, on Tuesday related to an incident in Brooklyn, New York, on Jan. 10.

Police officers responding to a 911 call in Brooklyn's Dumbo neighborhood that evening said a 50-year-old man told them he was arguing with another man who punched him in the face multiple times. The victim was taken to the hospital with swelling on the left side of his face, according to police.

The Brooklyn district attorney's office said Smith was due in court on Feb. 3, but had no further information.

Rhymes, 52, is known for songs that include “Break Ya Neck,” “Touch It” and “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See.”

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Brad Pitt rep responds to AI scam that cost French woman $850,000

A representative for Brad Pitt has reacted to the viral story of a French woman who was catfished and conned out of her life savings by someone pretending to be the famous actor.

An interior designer, identified only as Anne, revealed on a Sunday episode of French TV’s “Seven to Eight” that she believed she was in a long-distance romance with the Oscar winner before being swindled out of what was valued at $850,000.

Days after the episode aired, a spokesperson for the 61-year-old actor addressed the controversy.

“It’s awful that scammers take advantage of the strong bond between fans and celebrities,” the rep said in a statement Wednesday. “But this is an important reminder not to respond to unsolicited online outreach, especially from actors who have no social media presence.”

Anne, 53, said she was first contacted on Instagram in February 2023 by someone claiming to be Pitt’s mother and wanting to introduce Anne to her son. Anne was then duped for more than a year by fake social media profiles and convincing AI-generated photos and videos used to impersonate Pitt.

She confessed to eventually transferring copious amount of money into a bank account after being told, among many lies, that Pitt’s own accounts were locked amid his contentious divorce battle with Angelina Jolie and that he needed help to pay for kidney cancer treatments. Many of the AI photos showed him in a hospital.

The scammer eventually proposed to Anne, which she accepted. She divorced her husband believing she would be with Pitt.

It wasn’t until Anne saw photos of the “Fight Club” star with his new girlfriend, Inés de Ramón, at the 2024 Venice Film Festival that she grew suspicious and reported the scammer to police.

“I just got played, I admit it, and that’s why I came forward, because I am not the only one,” Anne said, insisting she was not “crazy or a moron.”

After learning it was indeed a scam, Anne said she subsequently experienced severe depression, for which he had to seek mental health treatment.

From combined wire services