Rihanna appeared for the first time at the trial of her longtime partner A$AP Rocky, on the day of its most important testimony — the description by a former friend of the moment Rocky allegedly fired a gun at him.

The singer superstar, who has two toddler sons with the rapper Rocky, sat out of view of the courtroom’s cameras, between Rocky’s mother and sister, in the downtown Los Angeles criminal courthouse. Security brought her into the courtroom surreptitiously to avoid crowds Wednesday morning.

Rocky, whose legal name is Rakim Athelston Mayers, has been standing trial on two felony charges that he fired a handgun at the former friend, who is known by the name A$AP Relli and was born Terell Ephron. If convicted, Rocky could get up to 24 years in prison.

Rihanna watched Wednesday as Relli testified about the moment Rocky allegedly fired a gun at him on a Hollywood street in 2021.

He had been shouting angrily at Rocky, who was walking away after an initial confrontation and scuffle, when Rocky pulled a gun from his waistband and held it in the air, Relli testified.

“He turned around and then it was like BOOM!” he told the jury. “The whole thing was like a movie, he kind of like pointed down and he shot the first shot.”

He said “I felt my hand hot” and later added, “I was hit. Or I was grazed. I didn’t have a hole or nothing.”

The trial's key witness said he grabbed one of their mutual friends who were with Rocky after the first shot was fired and stood behind him for protection. He said he did not see Rocky fire the second shot, and Rocky ran away moments later.

When jurors were being selected, prosecutors asked them whether Rihanna’s connection to the case, especially if she appeared in court, would affect their ability to deliver a guilty verdict.

Nearly all those questioned had heard of her — far more than had heard of Rocky — and some described themselves as fans, but all said they felt it would not affect their decisions.

It was not clear whether they could see Rihanna or were aware of her presence as they watched the testimony. She wore a long black dress with buttons on the front that resembled a winter overcoat, and had a pair of glasses on her head that she put on during the prosecution's questioning.

Earlier in the trial, which began on Jan. 21, Relli said he and Rocky, members of A$AP, a crew of creators at a New York high school, had been close but their relationship eroded after Rocky became famous.

He said their relationship had been strained for years and was getting worse in the days leading up to the incident, but he was still “furious” when Rocky pulled a gun on him after a scuffle that began the moment the two met up near the W Hotel. He dared him to use it.

When Rocky walked away, he testified that he followed and shouted after him, until the shots were fired.

Rocky’s lawyer says the shots he fired were not even from a real gun — they were blanks from a starter pistol that he carried as a prop. The lawyer said Relli knew this, and that was why he was so fearless walking after him.

“Oh it was a real gun,” Relli testified Wednesday, saying he knew because of his scraped hand.

He said he felt free to follow and shout at Rocky because “I felt like because he put it away and we’re on a busy street in Hollywood. He’s definitely not gonna shoot it.”

Since the shooting, and his decision to go to police and testify, he has gotten death threats and has been shunned as a snitch, he said, and the modest music management career he built fell apart.

“It's been a living hell,” Relli said.

About an hour after the shooting, Relli returned to the scene and said he photographed and recovered two shell casings. Earlier, while responding to a report of a shooting, police did not find any.

He sent a text to Rocky that was shown in court saying “U try killing me.”

Rocky denied it in his reply.

“Bro wtf is u talkin bout why u tell ppl I shot at u.”

Rocky said he was making stuff up and speaking “all type of nonsense” and was trying to “extort” him.

The court day ended after just a few hours of testimony because of scheduling issues. The defense will begin their cross-examination of Relli on Thursday.

Raised in Harlem, Rocky’s rap songs became a phenomenon in New York in 2011. He had his mainstream breakthrough when his first studio album went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2013. The second one, in 2015, did the same.

He’s set to have his biggest career year as a multimedia star. This Sunday, he’s nominated for a Grammy Award for best music video for his song “Tailor Swif,” at the ceremony at Crypto.com Arena just two miles (3 kilometers) from the Los Angeles courthouse where his trial’s being held.

He’s also set to headline the Rolling Loud Music Festival, to star opposite Denzel Washington in a film directed by Spike Lee, and to co-chair the Met Gala in May.

But the prospect of a conviction and the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence casts a shadow over all of it.

Rocky and Rihanna, both 36, have two sons together: 2-year-old RZA Athelston Mayers and 1-year-old Riot Rose Mayers. She revealed she was pregnant with the younger boy after headlining the Super Bowl halftime show in 2023 with a visible baby bump.

The singer and the rapper, who are both fashion moguls, first became close when he provided a verse to her 2012 song “Cockiness (Love It)” and they performed it at the MTV Video Music Awards. They became a couple in 2020.

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‘Sex, Lies, and Videotape’ star Andie MacDowell diagnosed with rare syndrome

For “Sex, Lies, and Videotape” star Andie MacDowell, life recently has been a real pain in the … sciatic nerve. It runs from the buttocks to the leg and was causing the former Calvin Klein model to suffer from a rare condition.

MacDowell, who is 66, recently appeared on “The Drew Barrymore Show,” where she discussed what was troubling her.

“I have piriformis syndrome, so it’s a muscle that kind of clamps down on my sciatic nerve, and it was shooting down my leg,” she told Barrymore, as reported by People.

MacDowell said she had been riding her indoor bike “like a crazy person,” according to E! News. The overuse then caused the condition to flare up.

“It’s not appropriate for my body, and I ended up with bad knees and a bad hip,” she said. “I thought I was literally falling apart.”

MacDowell initially thought she was going to need a hip replacement, but she managed to shrug off the condition surgery-free.

“I have to work my tiny little bottom and my hips,” she said. “I have to work the bottom and work my hip. I just do it every day.”

Piriformis syndrome, according to the American Osteopathic Association, is ”a frequently misdiagnosed pain in the buttocks.” It’s associated with sciatica, sometimes leading doctors to incorrect conclusions during examinations.

The neuromuscular condition is caused by the piriformis muscle (found in the buttocks) pressuring the sciatic nerve. It’s usually caused by muscle overuse, making it more common among marathon runners and other athletes.

Symptoms include pain, tingling or numbness in the buttocks, pain while walking, increased pain during extended periods of sitting and pain down the back of the legs.

The AOA reports that there are about 200,000 cases each year. It could be more common, though, according to Harvard Health Publishing senior faculty editor Dr. Robert H. Shmerling.

“Piriformis syndrome may be the most common cause of sciatic-type back pain you’ve never heard of; or it may be rare, no one is really sure,” Shmerling said. “If you have persistent, unexplained buttock pain that travels into the leg, stop carrying your wallet in your back pocket, try not to sit so much, and see your doctor.

“You might have a disk problem or some other common back trouble; but you could have piriformis syndrome, and finding out sooner rather than later can make a difference.”

Britain's Princess Beatrice gives birth to second daughter

LONDON — Britain’s Princess Beatrice gave birth to her second child last week, Buckingham Palace said Wednesday.

The palace said 36-year-old Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi welcomed new arrival Athena Elizabeth Rose Mapelli Mozzi on Jan. 22. She weighed 4 pounds and 5 ounces.

“She is tiny and absolutely perfect,’’ her father said in a social media post.

The king, queen and other members of the royal family are “delighted with the news,” the palace said.

Beatrice, who is ninth in the line of succession to the British throne, is the elder daughter of Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York.

She married millionaire property tycoon Mapelli Mozzi in July 2020 in a private wedding ceremony at the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor.

Athena joins older siblings, Mapelli-Mozzi’s 8-year-old son and Beatrice’s stepson Wolfie, and the couple’s 3-year-old daughter Sienna.

From combined wire services