NYC-bred star defense attorney Joe Tacopina turns down Diddy
Star defense attorney Joe Tacopina has represented a US president, a baseball legend and an iconic pop star — but he turned down Sean 'Diddy' Combs when the rapper came calling.
The Brooklyn-born legal eagle, fresh off getting A$AP Rocky acquitted on gun charges, informed Combs last month that the timing of the blockbuster case didn't work for him.
'I think he has a defensible case,' Tacopina told The Post.
Advertisement
8 Joe Tacopina is a Manhattan-based defense attorney who charges high-powered clients $2,000 an hour for his services.
REUTERS
He also dismissed speculation that his decision was influenced by his close ties to Jay-Z and Roc Nation, calling such rumors 'misconstrued.'
Jury selection in Combs' federal sex trafficking trial continued on Tuesday in Manhattan, with opening arguments scheduled to begin Monday.
Advertisement
Combs is alleged to have used his wealth and influence to recruit, exploit, and abuse women, often coercing them into sexual acts through threats, manipulation, or force between 2004 and 2024.
He has pleaded not guilty and hired a high-powered legal team that includes Marc Agnifilo, Teny Geragos, Brian Steel, Alexandra Shapiro, Xavier Donaldson, Jason Driscoll, Anna Estevao and reportedly Mark Geragos.
When asked about the merits of the government's case against Diddy, Tacopina sounded skeptical.
'The entire case, I tell you, rises and falls on consent. It's really that simple,' Tacopina said.
Advertisement
8 Tacopina told The Post that he turned down a request by Sean 'Diddy' Combs to represent him at his federal sex trafficking trial.
REUTERS
'I believe the defense has ample evidence of consent, including rare communications that contradict the allegations. That's my view.'
According to Tacopina, federal prosecutors are using the RICO statute, which was originally created to bring down organized crime figures, in order to indict Diddy 'for having parties.'
Tacopina said that the charges were brought against Diddy so that federal prosecutors could 'get their names in the paper' given that the rapper is a 'big target.'
Advertisement
'I do think he's getting a raw deal,' Tacopina added.
8 Combs has pleaded not guilty to charges of leading a 20-year racketeering conspiracy involving sex trafficking, while opening statements are scheduled for March 12.
REUTERS
It's no wonder that Diddy sought Tacopina's services. The Brooklyn native is fresh off of one of his biggest triumphs — the acquittal of A$AP Rocky, who faced more than 20 years in prison on weapons charges.
Tacopina still remembers the surreal moment Rihanna embraced him in the middle of a Los Angeles courtroom just after her partner and the father of their child was found not guilty.
As she wept tears of relief, she wrapped her arms around Tacopina, buried her face into his designer suit, and whispered, 'You saved my family.'
It was an emotional climax to a hard-fought legal battle, but for Tacopina — who takes pride in his meticulously tailored Italian suits—there was one drawback.
'She's crying on my lapel,' he recalled with a chuckle. 'When she pulled back, I saw the entire Fenty color palette on my jacket.'
8 Tacopina embraces his client A$AP Rocky after his acquittal on felony assault charges in a Los Angeles courtroom on Feb. 18.
Getty Images
Advertisement
Jokingly, he told her she owed him a new suit.
'Joe, I'll get you 10,' she replied.
Tacopina told The Post that he may hang the the tear-stained lapel in his office as a memento.
It's just another chapter in the career of the Brownsville native who has built a reputation as one of the nation's most fearless and in-demand defense attorneys.
Advertisement
Known for his fiery courtroom presence and unapologetic style, Tacopina commands as much as $2,000 an hour—and his client list reads like a celebrity power index.
8 Tacopina's roster of clients also includes President Trump — pictured her in a Manhattan court on April 4, 2023.
Getty Images
Over the years, he's represented everyone from Michael Jackson and Meek Mill to Alex Rodriguez and the Washington Commanders.
Tacopina's name drew headlines again when he successfully defended former President Donald Trump in a civil lawsuit filed by writer E. Jean Carroll.
Advertisement
In a rare courtroom win for Trump, Tacopina convinced the jury that his client was not liable for rape, a significant legal and political moment.
8 Tacopina with A$AP Rocky and Rihanna.
Joe Tacopina
A federal jury, however, did find Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll, awarding her over $88 million in total damages across two trials.
Tacopina announced that he is currently representing rapper Fat Joe in a high-profile defamation and extortion case. He also recently joined the legal team of former TV host Wendy Williams as she fights to regain control over her life from a court-appointed guardian.
Advertisement
His path to the courtroom wasn't a straight one.
8 Tacopina is the president and owner of the Italian soccer club S.P.A.L. He acquired the club in August 2021 and has been leading its operations since then.
8 Tacopina poses alongside UFC champion Conor McGregor.
Joe Tacopina
Tacopina initially set his sights on a career in professional hockey, playing briefly in the New York Islanders' farm system.
But a debate class at Skidmore College changed everything. A professor noted his gift for argument and urged him to consider law school.
Inspired, Tacopina read 'Fatal Vision,' a true crime book that confirmed his calling. 'It was the most fascinating thing ever,' he said. 'This is what I want to do.'
Now with over 120 trials under his belt, Tacopina credits his toughness and confidence to growing up in a tough Brooklyn neighborhood. 'I truly do not possess a fear gene,' he said. A tattoo on his forearm reads: 'I'm from the 'ville… Never ran, never will.'
For Tacopina, each case is more than a job—it's a battle.
And whether he's facing a federal jury or wiping makeup from a courtroom suit, he shows no signs of slowing down.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
17 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Today in History: June 7, James Byrd Jr. killed in hate crime
In 1892, Homer Plessy, a Creole of color, was arrested for refusing to leave a whites-only car of the East Louisiana Railroad. (Ruling on his case, Plessy v. Ferguson, the US Supreme Court upheld 'separate but equal' racial segregation, a concept it renounced in 1954.) Advertisement In 1929, the sovereign state of Vatican City formally came into existence as the Italian Parliament ratified the Lateran Treaty in Rome. In 1942, the Battle of Midway ended in a decisive victory for American naval forces over Imperial Japan, marking a turning point in the Pacific War. In 1965, the US Supreme Court, in Griswold v. Connecticut, struck down, 7-2, a Connecticut law used to prosecute a Planned Parenthood clinic in New Haven for providing contraceptives to married couples. Advertisement In 1976, New York magazine published an article by journalist Nik Cohn entitled 'The Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night,' which inspired the film 'Saturday Night Fever,' which in turn sparked a nationwide disco craze. (Cohn admitted in 1997 that the article was actually a work of fiction.) In 1979, Texas became the first state to recognize Juneteenth as an official state holiday. (Juneteenth became a federal holiday in 2021.) In 1982, Graceland, Elvis Presley's Memphis mansion, was opened to the public as a tourist destination, five years after Presley's death. In 1998, in a crime that shocked the nation and led to stronger state and federal hate crime laws, James Byrd Jr., a 49-year-old Black man, was hooked by a chain to a pickup truck and dragged to his death in Jasper, Texas. (Two white men were later sentenced to death and executed for the crime; a third was sentenced to life in prison.) In 2006, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the founder of al-Qaida in Iraq, was killed by a US airstrike on his safe house. In 2021, Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and her son Paul Murdaugh, 22, from a prominent South Carolina legal family, were found shot and killed on their family's property. (Alex Murdaugh, Maggie's husband and Paul's father, would be found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison.)
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Jury begins deliberating in Weinstein's rape retrial
Jurors in Harvey Weinstein's rape and sexual assault retrial have begun deliberating in a Manhattan court, after a judge instructed them to weigh for themselves the credibility of the three accusers that the defence has said lied about their encounters with the once-powerful movie mogul. The Academy Award-winning producer and Miramax studio co-founder is accused of raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013 and assaulting two other women in 2006 and 2002. Weinstein, who has denied ever having non-consensual sex or assaulting anyone, has pleaded not guilty. The trial began in April. Weinstein, 73, is on trial for a second time after a New York state appeals court threw out his conviction in April 2024. He faces up to 25 years in prison for two counts of criminal sexual acts and up to four years for one count of rape. After the jury was sent to deliberate, Weinstein, seated in a wheelchair and wearing a dark grey suit, thanked New York Supreme Court Justice Curtis Farber and the court staff. "I have been treated incredibly fairly," he said. Weinstein's defence lawyer Arthur Aidala moved for a mistrial earlier on Thursday morning, because Farber replaced a juror who called in sick with an alternate. The judge denied the motion. Weinstein is already serving a 16-year prison sentence after being found guilty in December 2022 of rape in California. Two days of closing arguments wrapped up on Wednesday, and Farber will instruct the 12 jurors on the law before handing them the case. Prosecutors with the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg have portrayed Weinstein as a serial predator who promised career advancement in Hollywood to women, only to then coax them into private settings where he attacked them. "He held the golden ticket, the chance to make it or not. He made each of these women feel small, no match for the power broker of Hollywood," prosecutor Nicole Blumberg told jurors on Wednesday. Weinstein's defence lawyers have said his encounters with the women were consensual and accused them of lying about being raped after failing to make it big in Hollywood by sleeping with him. "They are lying about what happened. Not about everything, but about a small slice - just enough to turn their regret, their buyers' remorse, into criminality," Aidala told jurors on Tuesday. Weinstein was convicted of rape by a Manhattan jury in February 2020, but the New York Court of Appeals threw out the conviction and ordered a new trial, citing errors by the trial judge. Weinstein had been serving a 23-year sentence in a prison in upstate Rome, New York, when the conviction was overturned. That conviction was a milestone for the MeToo movement, which encouraged women to come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct by powerful men. Weinstein has been held at New York City's Rikers Island jail since his conviction was overturned. He has had several health scares while being held at Rikers, and in September was rushed to a hospital for emergency heart surgery. Miramax studio produced many hit movies in its heyday, including Shakespeare in Love and Pulp Fiction. Weinstein's own eponymous film studio filed for bankruptcy in March 2018, five months after the original sexual misconduct accusations became widely publicised. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Riot police, anti-ICE protesters square off in Los Angeles after raids
By Jane Ross and Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Helmeted police in riot gear turned out on Friday evening in a tense confrontation with protesters in downtown Los Angeles, after a day of federal immigration raids in which dozens of people across the city were reported to be taken into custody. Live Reuters video showed Los Angeles Police Department officers lined up on a downtown street wielding batons and what appeared to be tear gas rifles, facing off with demonstrators after authorities had ordered crowds of protesters to disperse around nightfall. Early in the standoff, some protesters hurled chunks of broken concrete toward officers, and police responded by firing volleys of tear gas and pepper spray. Police also fired "flash-bang" concussion rounds. It was not clear whether there were any immediate arrests. An LAPD spokesperson, Drake Madison, told Reuters that police on the scene had declared an unlawful assembly, meaning that those who failed to leave the area were subject to arrest. Television news footage earlier in the day showed caravans of unmarked military-style vehicles and vans loaded with uniformed federal agents streaming through Los Angeles streets as part of the immigration enforcement operation. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents targeted several locations, including a Home Depot in the city's Wetlake District, an apparel store in the Fashion District and a clothing warehouse in South Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles City News Service (CNS). CNS and other local media reported dozens of people were taken into custody during the raids, the latest in a series of such sweeps conducted in a number of cities as part of President Donald Trump's extensive crackdown on illegal immigration. The Republican president has vowed to arrest and deport undocumented migrants in record numbers. The LAPD did not take part in the immigration enforcement action. It was deployed to quell civil unrest after crowds protesting the deportation raids spray-painted anti-ICE slogans on the walls of a federal court building and massed outside a nearby jail where some of the detainees were believed to be held. Impromptu demonstrations had also erupted at some of the raid locations earlier in the day. One organized labor executive, David Huerta, president of the Service Employees International Union of California, was injured and detained by ICE at one site, according to an SEIU statement. The union said Huerta was arrested "while exercising his First Amendment right to observe and document law enforcement activity." No details about the nature or severity of Huerta's injury were given. It was not clear whether he was charged with a crime. ICE did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for information about its enforcement actions or Huerta's detention. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued a statement condemning the immigration raids, saying, "these tactics sow terror in our communities and disrupt basic principles of safety in our city."
