Bill Cosby’s lawyer released a statement Friday denying claims of sexual assault against the comedian and blaming the press for widely reporting “unsubstantiated, fantastical” allegations.
“The new, never-before-heard claims from women who have come forward in the past two weeks with unsubstantiated, fantastical stories about things they say occurred 30, 40, or even 50 years ago have escalated far past the point of absurdity,” said Cosby’s attorney, Martin Singer, Variety reports.
Since 2005, more than a dozen women have come out and accused Cosby of molestation or sexual assault, but these accounts only recently began to gain media attention, in the midst of Cosby’s latest efforts at a comeback. On Nov. 19, NBC announced it was halting development of its new show starring Cosby, Netflix postponed a Bill Cosby comedy special set to air Nov. 28 and TV Land yanked reruns of The Cosby Show.
But despite the backlash, Cosby received a standing ovation at a sold-out comedy show in Melbourne, Florida on Friday. “I know people are tired of me not saying anything, but a guy doesn’t have to answer to innuendos,” Cosby told Florida TODAY before the Melbourne show. “People should fact check. People shouldn’t have to go through that and shouldn’t answer to innuendos.”
Cosby’s lawyer blamed the media for rushing into stories before they had been confirmed. “It is long past time for this media vilification of Mr. Cosby to stop.”
Here’s Singer’s full statement:
The new, never-before-heard claims from women who have come forward in the past two weeks with unsubstantiated, fantastical stories about things they say occurred 30, 40, or even 50 years ago have escalated far past the point of absurdity.
These brand new claims about alleged decades-old events are becoming increasingly ridiculous, and it is completely illogical that so many people would have said nothing, done nothing, and made no reports to law enforcement or asserted civil claims if they thought they had been assaulted over a span of so many years.
Lawsuits are filed against people in the public eye every day. There has never been a shortage of lawyers willing to represent people with claims against rich, powerful men, so it makes no sense that not one of these new women who just came forward for the first time now ever asserted a legal claim back at the time they allege they had been sexually assaulted.
This situation is an unprecedented example of the media’s breakneck rush to run stories without any corroboration or adherence to traditional journalistic standards. Over and over again, we have refuted these new unsubstantiated stories with documentary evidence, only to have a new uncorroborated story crop up out of the woodwork. When will it end? It is long past time for this media vilification of Mr. Cosby to stop.
MORE: Here’s Everything We Know (And Don’t Know) About the Bill Cosby Rape Allegations
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