Diddy’s Lawyer Anthony Ricco Abruptly Quits Ahead Of Trial

Sean “Diddy” Combs’ legal team has lost a member ahead of his sex trafficking trial. One of his attorneys, Anthony Ricco, stepped down from the case and provided a cryptic statement.

A motion for the move was filed on Thursday (Feb. 20) in New York, per Daily Mail. In the notice, Ricco stated, “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. 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.”

It also clarified that lead counsel Marc Agnifilo had discussions with Ricco about the change in staff and the decision would not delay the current schedule. Government prosecutors had been notified, but didn’t take a stance. 

The Bad Boy Records founder was arrested in September 2024, a year after Cassie Ventura sued him for sexual abuse. He faces three charges: racketeering conspiracy; sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion; and transportation to engage in prostitution. The trial is set to begin in May.

Most recently, Combs’ legal team claimed that his federal sexual misconduct charges are “racist” and he is being targeted for being a “powerful Black man.”

This motion, filed on Tuesday (Feb. 18), came after a superseding indictment was issued last month which added two new victims to his case. Diddy’s legal team cited the Mann Act, a federal law passed in 1910 that prohibits the transportation of women across state lines for “immoral purposes.”

They claimed that no white person has ever been targeted with this specific law, writing, “Mr. Combs has been singled out because he is a powerful Black man, and he is being prosecuted for conduct that regularly goes unpunished. What was racist in its inception has often been racist in its operation.”