US President Donald Trump has vowed to get A$AP Rocky out of prison after his wife Melania asked him to help the popular rapper.
A$AP Rocky, real name Rakim Mayers, was detained on July 3 along with his bodyguard and two other members of his entourage in connection with a fight in a Stockholm city-centre street in the early hours of June 30.
The artist has denied the assault accusation. Before his arrest, he uploaded videos to his Instagram account of an altercation with two men, saying they had followed him and his entourage and that he had not wanted any trouble.
A number of stars including Kim Kardashian West, Justin Bieber, Sean Mendes and Jada Pinkett Smith, took to social media to support the rapper. More than 600,000 people have signed an online petition for his release, while fellow artists have also expressed their support.
Trump was talking to the media in the White House alongside Apollo 11 astronauts when Rocky's detention came up. Trump said he did not know the rapper's music but his wife Melania had told him about the case.
"Sweden is a great country and they're friends of mine," Trump explained. "We are going to be calling. We're going to be talking; we've already started.
"And, many, many members of the African-American community have called me, friends of mine, and said 'could you help?' So, I personally don't know A$AP Rocky but I can tell you that he has tremendous support from the African-American community in this country. And, when I say 'African-American,' I think I can, really, from everybody in this country: because we're all one. I have been called by so many people asking me to help A$AP Rocky."
Melania said they were "working with the State Department and we hope to get him home soon".
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The rapper's lawyer said he was acting in self-defence.
"If you look at it from that perspective and then find out that you are in jail and that you are the villain, that's of course a very hard thing to understand and accept, and he thinks it's very unjust," Slobodan Jovicic told media.
"I think, and I'm sure, that in court it will be shown that he's innocent, that he acted in self-defence."
Swedish prosecutors have asked to keep A$AP Rocky in custody for six more days while they investigate.
APTN / Newshub.
