A woman who has accused Bill Cosby of raping her in the 1970s has filed a defamation lawsuit in Massachusetts against the comedian, alleging he “publicly branded” her a liar when his lawyer called her claims “absolutely false.”
A woman who has accused Bill Cosby of sexually assaulting her in the 1970s sued him Wednesday for defamation, saying he publicly branded her a liar.
The accuser, now 66, says Cosby "publicly branded" her a liar through statements made by his lawyer and publicist. She said at a Wednesday press conference with her lawyer after filing her suit that she is looking forward to her day in court.
"We shall all now have our day in court. But I'll tell you this: Bill Cosby will also have his day in court... and I look forward to that event," she said.
She has accused Cosby of drugging and assaulting her when she was an aspiring model in the early 1970s.
Her suit, filed in federal court in Springfield, Massachusetts, claims that Cosby invited her to lunch when she wasn't feeling well, and that he gave her pills he said were cold medicine. The suit claims she started feeling woozy, and that Cosby took her to her apartment, where he assaulted her.
The accuser first spoke publicly about the alleged attack in 2005. She said that after she did media interviews, Cosby's lawyer and publicist made statements intended to expose her to public contempt and ridicule.
That attorney, Walter M. Phillips Jr., declined to comment. Messages left for the publicist, David Brokaw, weren't immediately returned.
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Los Angeles attorney Martin Singer, who has represented Cosby in the renewed round of sexual assault allegations against him, did not immediately return calls seeking comment on the lawsuit. Cosby is the only defendant named in the suit.
"Mr. Cosby's agents took to the airwaves, took to the press, and according to the accuser, branded her a liar," said Joseph Cammarata, the Washington, D.C., attorney who is representing Green in her defamation lawsuit.
"I want the truth of this matter to be finally established forevermore. I want the truth to be known. I want justice for myself and my sisters-at-arms, if you like," the woman said via video conference. "I want it put to a jury. I want a verdict."
Cosby, who is 77 and has a home in Shelburne Falls in western Massachusetts, has been accused of sexual assault by more than a dozen women. He has never been charged in connection with any sexual assault allegations.
In 2005, Cosby settled a civil case filed by an original accuser. A dozen women ho were prepared to testify in the accuser's lawsuit that Cosby sexually assaulted them.
Through his representatives, Cosby has denied renewed allegations by women alleging decades-old sexual assaults.
Cammarata said the statute of limitations has expired for the women who have accused Cosby to seek criminal charges against him.
"By necessity in the case, she will have to litigate and Mr. Cosby will have to answer the allegation that he, according to the woman, sexually abused her. And so that will be the central, and only issue in the litigation," Cammarata said.
During Wednesday's press conference, the woman thanked Cammarata for figuring out a way to pursue the case after the statue of limitations expired.
The defamation lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. Cammarata said potential damages would be determined by a jury.
Cammarata said they could amend the lawsuit to include other women before serving Cosby with the lawsuit. They would then provide him an opportunity to respond.
