American rapper A$AP Rocky has been arrested for suspected assault in Sweden along with three other people over an incident that occurred on Sunday, Swedish officials have confirmed to CBS News. A Swedish Prosecution Office spokesman said the artist was arrested for suspected “gross assault,” but would not provide any further details.
A$AP Rocky posted short video clips, purportedly showing the incident that led to his arrest, and a statement proclaiming his innocence to his Instagram channel.
The prosecution office spokesman said the relationships between the four people placed under arrest were not clear.
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The videos show the rapper and a couple associates interacting with two young men who appeared to be arguing about a pair of headphones or a cellphone. A$AP Rocky claimed on Instagram that one of the men hit his bodyguard with a pair of headphones. The clips show little physical interaction between the young men, as A$AP Rocky and an associate repeatedly tell the other men to walk away and stop following them.
“So a few drug addicts are not my fans,” he said on his Instagram account. “We don’t know these guys and we didn’t want trouble, they followed us for 4 blocks, and they were slapping girls butts who passed, give me a break.”
A female, not seen in the video, can be heard telling the rapper that one of the other young men, “slapped my ass and my girlfriend’s ass.”
It was not clear what transpired before or after the videos were shot, but another video surfaced online which appears to show punches being thrown by members of A$AP Rocky’s entourage at the two other men, one of whom ends up on the ground taking punches from at least three people.
The New York City-born rapper, who is also a music producer and model, was arrested on Tuesday after he performed at the Smash hip hop festival in Stockholm, Sweden.
A statement provided by the prosecutor’s office on Wednesday said only that the investigation was still in “an initial stage” and thus no information about any evidence would be given.
Under Swedish law, he and the other suspects can be held for up to three days before they have to appear before a judge to face formal charges, but it might not take that long.
