Bill Cosby countersues 7 women in defamation case

More than 50 women have come forward to accuse the actor of sexually assaulting them after plying them with drugs or alcohol.

|
REUTERS/Barry Gutierrez
Comedian Bill Cosby performs at The Temple Buell Theatre in Denver, Colorado, United States January 17, 2015.

Actor and comedian Bill Cosby on Monday sued seven women who had accused him of defaming them, saying they lied when they accused him of sexual assault.

The countersuit, filed in U.S. district court in Springfield, Massachusetts, contends that the women defamed his "honorable legacy and reputation" by accusing him of sexual misconduct.

More than 50 women have come forward to accuse the actor, best known for his role in the 1980s television hit "The Cosby Show," of sexually assaulting them after plying them with drugs or alcohol.

Cosby has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and has never been criminally charged. Many of the alleged incidents occurred decades ago and, so the statute of limitations for prosecuting them has long run out.

"Relying solely on unsubstantiated accusations, counterclaim defendants have engaged in a campaign to assassinate Mr. Cosby's reputation and character by willfully, maliciously, and falsely accusing Mr. Cosby of multi-decade-old purported sexual misconduct," the 78-year-old actor's attorneys wrote in court papers charging the women with defamation, tortious interference and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Cosby's countersuit to the lawsuits - first filed in December 2014 and charging him with libel, assault and slander - seeks unspecified financial damages. The suits contend that Cosby slandered his alleged victims by calling them liars when they publicly accused him of sexual assault.

"Bill Cosby appears to be going to war against women who have sued him in Massachusetts and who allege that he has victimized them," said attorney Gloria Allred, who represents several women who have sued the comedian, thought not the people involved in the Massachusetts case. "Such a tactic will not deter courageous women from fighting the battle against him."

Cosby testified in 2005 that he had obtained the sedative drug Quaaludes, popular in the 1970s, with the intention of giving them to young women in order to have sex with him, according to court documents unsealed in July as part of a separate legal proceeding against him.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Bill Cosby countersues 7 women in defamation case
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2015/1214/Bill-Cosby-countersues-7-women-in-defamation-case
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe