A$AP Rocky’s high-powered attorney Joe Tacopina suffered a crushing legal blow Thursday when a Los Angeles Superior Court judge denied his motion to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed by the rapper’s former friend, A$AP Relli.
Superior Court Judge Randolph Hammock rejected Tacopina’s anti-SLAPP motion, which would have quickly killed the case and forced A$AP Relli to pay the defense’s attorney fees.
The ruling keeps alive explosive claims that Tacopina defamed Relli by calling him a “liar” and “gold digger” during media interviews.
The defamation case stems from a 2021 Hollywood shooting incident where A$AP Rocky allegedly fired shots at A$AP Relli. The former friends were part of the same Hip-Hop collective before their relationship exploded into violence.
“Those would be protected by the litigation privilege,” Judge Hammock said during Thursday’s hearing according to Court House News. “But the statements that Mr. Ephron is making were not made in that context. Is the word spin? This was spin — a lawyer spinning for his client.”
Tacopina, who has defended high-profile clients like Donald Trump, Meek Mill, Wendy Williams and Michael Jackson, had argued his inflammatory statements to various media outlets were protected speech.
The Brooklyn-born attorney told the media that Relli’s shooting claims were “an extortion attempt by a former associate” and accused him of fabricating the story in a “get-rich-quick scheme.”
“He’s a failed associate–ex–associate of Rocky’s and he’s jealous. He was trying to get money from Rocky. He wanted Rocky to support him. He made it clear. There were repeated attempts where he tried to ask for money in lieu of not causing problems for Rocky. That’s what he said. We have all this memorialized in text messages and otherwise, so it’s an extortion,” Joe Tacopina told Rolling Stone.
The judge found those statements crossed the line from protected litigation privilege into public relations spin designed to damage Relli’s reputation.
Relli’s lawsuit claims the defamatory statements resulted in death threats on social media, public ridicule and “extreme emotional distress.”
The struggling music producer told the court he’s already invested $500,000 in legal fees fighting both the defamation case and a separate civil assault lawsuit against Rocky.
The legal drama began after Rocky was acquitted of felony assault charges in February 2025 following a three-week criminal trial. Despite the not-guilty verdict, Relli’s civil lawsuits continue, with a jury trial tentatively scheduled for January 2026.
