Joe Tacopina, the attorney who played a crucial role in securing A$AP Rocky’s acquittal, has explained why he turned down an opportunity to represent Sean “Diddy” Combs in his ongoing legal battle.
Speaking in an interview on The Breakfast Club, Tacopina revealed that his close ties to Roc Nation and Jay-Z influenced his decision to decline representing Diddy in his sex trafficking and racketeering case.
“I represent Roc Nation; a lot of people in Roc I’m very close with,” Tacopina stated. “Jay and [Roc Nation president] Desiree Perez, who’s the most amazing, like—bomb of a boss. Jay is amazing. You know, Jay Brown, all those people are just, like, they really are special, special people. That’s sort of family to me, and I don’t think they see eye-to-eye with P. Diddy.”
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Charlamagne Tha God, one of the show’s hosts, asked Tacopina to clarify the nature of Jay-Z and Diddy’s relationship, pointing out that many assume they were friends because of past photos together.
“Everyone wants a picture with P. Diddy at one time or another when they went to a party,” Tacopina responded. “But when things got real, years and years ago…” He gestured, implying that Jay-Z had since distanced himself from Diddy.
Tacopina’s legal expertise recently helped A$AP Rocky avoid a potential 24-year prison sentence in his assault case involving former friend A$AP Relli. The rapper was acquitted last week, and Tacopina later shared that Rocky and Rihanna jokingly suggested naming their next child “A$AP Joe” in his honor.
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Tacopina also revealed that before the trial, he and Rocky had a brief one-minute conversation before deciding to reject a plea deal that would have resulted in 180 days behind bars. Confident in Rocky’s innocence, the attorney remained optimistic about securing his exoneration.
With a distinguished career representing high-profile clients, Tacopina has previously defended figures such as President Donald Trump and Alex Rodriguez.
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