Sean “Diddy” Combs is losing part of his legal team.
As the embattled music mogul faces down a torrent of civil suits and a federal sexual abuse and racketeering case, one of his lawyers, Anthony Ricco, is calling it quits. In a motion filed in New York Federal Court Friday, Ricco notified the judge of his intent to withdraw, adding it had followed discussions with Combs’ lead counsel Marc Agnifilo.
“Although I have provided Sean Combs with the high level of legal representation expected by the court, under no circumstances can I continue to effectively serve as counsel for Sean Combs,” Ricco wrote.
He declined to offer the specific details that led to the decision, citing attorney/client privilege in the filing.
USA TODAY has reached out to Ricco, Agnifilo, and Combs for further comment.
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Ricco represents only one lawyer in a larger team that is working to defend Combs against accusations of rape and sex trafficking. The Bad Boy Records founder has maintained his innocence even as more alleged victims have come forward to outline a pattern of abuse spanning much of the producer’s career.
Most recently, lawyers for Combs have argued that the federal indictment − which, in part, accuses the rapper of transportation to engage in prostitution − leans on a “racist” law.
“No white person has ever been the target of a remotely similar prosecution,” a Tuesday filing on behalf of Combs argued. Seeking to dismiss the suit, his defense team seized on one of the laws the government is using to charge him: the Mann Act, officially known as the White-Slave Traffic Act, which makes it illegal to transport people across state or international lines for the purpose of prostitution. Combs lawyers argue the law has a history of racial bias and rarely results in prosecution for white people.
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ lawyers slamfeds for using ‘racist’ law ‘used to target Black men’
His lawyers say the law was historically “used to target Black men and supposedly protect white women from them,” adding that people like Jim Crow-era boxer Jack Johnson and Chuck Berry have been accused under the act, which targets “black male sexuality” and accuses them of “deviant sexual behavior.”
“No other person, and certainly no white person, has ever previously been prosecuted under the White-Slave Traffic Act for hiring male escorts from another (state),” reads the document filed in the U.S. Southern District of New York. Combs “has been singled out because he is a powerful black man, and he is being prosecuted for conduct that regularly goes unpunished.”
Those federal charges represent a singular, albeit large, dot in a constellation of accusations and suits facing the once-celebrated artist.
If you are a survivor of sexual assault, RAINN offers support through the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Español
