After Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ lawyer abruptly quit representing him earlier this month, A$AP Rocky’s lawyer, who won a case last week, explained why he would not represent Diddy in court.
Diddy is currently awaiting trial
The rapper is currently awaiting trial in May 2025 as he remains in police custody at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.
RELATED STORIES
Diddy, whose real name is Sean Combs, was arrested in September 2024 at the Park Hyatt hotel in Manhattan New York after he was charged with racketeering, and sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion.
Diddy’s lawyer quit last week
In a filing dated Thursday 20 February, Diddy’s lawyer, Anthony Ricco, withdrew from representing the 54-year-old rapper. His decision was taken with immediate effect, and his is no longer part of Diddy’s legal team.
A$AP Rocky’s lawyer shared his position
A$AP Rocky had been charged with a felony shooting case in 2021 which he won earlier this month and was acquitted on all chargers.
A$AP’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, has explained why he would not represent Diddy in court in place of Ricco.
Tacopina has ties with Roc Nation
On The Breakfast Club on Monday 24 February, Tacopina explained that his ties with Roc Nation (a creative agency) and its owner Jay-Z mean he can’t be Diddy’s attorney.
“I represent Roc Nation; a lot of people in Roc I’m very close with. Jay and [Roc Nation president] Desiree Perez, who’s the most amazing, like, bomb of a boss. Jay is amazing. You know, Jay Brown, all those people are just, like, they really are special, special people,” he said.
Tacopina also explained Jay-Z relation to Diddy
The lawyer also explained that Jay-Z and Diddy are not in contact at the moment, saying, “That’s sort of family to me and I don’t think they see eye to eye with P. Diddy.”
Late last year, Jay-Z was accused of taking part in one of the sexual assault cases filed against Diddy, which he strongly denied.
Diddy’s lawyer quit representing him last week
The motion for withdrawing from representing Diddy, which Anthony Ricco filed on Thursday 20 February partly read: “On September 22, 2024, I was retained by the defendant, Sean Combs, to serve as his counsel, and I have served as his counsel since that time.”
“For the reasons set forth below, this motion for withdrawal is filed so that Sean Combs may move forward with his defense and to commence jury selection and trial without any delay.”
Ricco spoke with Combs’ lead counsel
The attorney explained that his withdrawal came after a conversation with Diddy’s lead counsel Marc Agnifilo, who agreed he should withdraw from the rapper’s legal team.
The lawyer said he had “sufficient reasons”
Ricco explained in the filing: “While I am aware that the Local Rule requires that an application for withdrawal of counsel is supported and granted ‘only upon a showing by affidavit or otherwise of satisfactory reasons for withdrawal,’ there are sufficient reasons (related to the protections afforded by the attorney/client privilege) for brevity in my application for withdrawal as counsel in this case.”
Ricco would “under no circumstances” represent Diddy
As reported by Page Six, the lawyer has also clearly stated, “Under no circumstances can I continue to effectively serve as counsel for Sean Combs, consistent with the ABA Standards for Criminal Justice.”
