ASAP Mob member and VLONE designer A$AP Bari (real name Jabari Shelton) pleaded guilty on Thursday (January 3, 2019) in a London courtroom to one count of sexual assault. The assault first came to light in July 2017 with leaked video showing Bari cursing at and slapping a woman who was in bad with an associate of Bari’s.
Bari was fined £4,000 fine and will have to pay his victim £2,500, as well as £2,500 in court costs. The victim has not been named because U.K. law dictates that victims of rape and other sex crimes are automatically guaranteed anonymity.
During sentencing, the judge stated, “You say that you were angry but there’s no need to ever be so abusive and humiliating towards a female.”
Bari arrived at court wearing a ski mask. For his appearance he wore a black suit and white dress shirt with a pair of Nike sneakers. During his appearance, his lawyer stated, “Somebody who wanted to do him harm and has.”
Prior to his court appearance, Bari celebrated the holidays at Kim Kardashian and Kanye West‘s Christmas party. And while his career as a designer appears to be in limbo, he’s still receiving invites to elite fashion events, including a front-row seat next to A$AP Rocky at Dior Homme’s spring 2019 runway presentation in Paris.
The assault took place following the Wireless Festival on July 9, 2017. Following the event, the victim returned to the Curtain Hotel in Shoreditch with an acquaintance of Bari’s.
The victim, who was naked at the time, was woken at approximately 5:00 AM by Bari, who pulled off her blanket and demanded, “Bitch, you f*cked my assistant, now suck my dick.” When the victim got up and attempted to escape him, he slapped her butt as she hurriedly walked by. Another associate of Bari’s recorded the exchange.
According to the victim, she was subsequently kicked out of the room and asked hotel employees to call the police. However, she denied being assaulting when the police arrived. When the footage emerged several days later, she reported the assault. By then Bari had returned to the United States.
Bari initially claimed the video was fake, but then apologized. Despite his mea culpa, news emerged in the days to follow that Nike had ended its collaborative relationship with Bari’s VLONE streetwear label.
In November 2017, TMZ reported the victim had filed suit against Bari for $1 million. In August 2018, Bari counter-sued in a claim stating the victim only decided to report the assault as a path to a pay off.
Bari was arrested for the assault in London in June 2018, but was released after seven days when he paid a cash bond of £25,000. Subsequently, he returned to the United States.
