Four more women who say they were sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby are said to be ready to sue the entertainer for defamation because they say his representatives characterized their accounts as fiction.
Source: Cosby Defamation Suit: Four Women Said to Be Ready to Join – The New York Times
And this:
Bill Cosby’s lawyers were aggressive enough to fend off rumors about his behavior for years. But the tactic may have backfired in the latest accusations against him.
Source: Defamation Suits Against Cosby Point to Peril of Belittling Accusers – The New York Times
A couple of paragraphs from the above article:
Many of the women say they were assaulted as far back as the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s and the deadline to bring criminal charges or file lawsuits directly related to the accusations has long passed.
“Thankfully, I am able to go to court and present my proof that I am telling the truth,” Barbara Bowman, one of the women who joined the Massachusetts defamation suit on Friday, said in a telephone conference call held by her lawyer, Joseph Cammarata. Ms. Bowman says she was drugged and raped by Mr. Cosby in the 1980s.
“I now am in a position where I have a right to tell my side of the story under oath in a court of law,” she said.
Yes, of course she does. But as I’ve said before, it’ll still be a hard case to prove, because, as the Times points out:
Essentially, lawyers say, the suits hinge on whether the women can show they were telling the truth about accusations of sexual assault that occurred many years ago, and that Mr. Cosby, through his representatives, was thus lying when he called their allegations false. The women will also have to prove that Mr. Cosby and his agents knew or should have known that the statements made in Mr. Cosby’s defense were false.