Bill Cosby said he got drugs to give women for sex
PHILADELPHIA — Some old documents — newly unsealed — could be comedian Bill Cosby's undoing amid numerous claims from women that he drugged and raped them years ago. Cosby admitted in 2005 that he got quaaludes with the intent of giving them to young women he wanted to have sex with, and that he gave the sedative to at least one woman and "other people," according to documents obtained Monday by the Associated Press.
That woman and a second woman testified in the same case that they knowingly took quaaludes from him, the documents say.
Last November, Cosby's lawyer said the star would not dignify the "decade-old, discredited" claims with a response.
"It's almost an admission of guilt without him admitting guilt," says Jeetendr Sehdev, an authority on celebrity branding and professor of marketing at the
Since last year, roughly 40 women, including former models Beverly Johnson and Janice Dickinson have come forward alleging sexual assault or misconduct from Cosby — thanks in part to a comedy routine by Hannibal Buress. The accusations include claims by many that he drugged and raped them in incidents dating back more than four decades. Cosby has never been criminally charged, and most of the accusations are barred by statutes of limitations.
As the accusers came forward, a variety of celebrities and others came to Cosby's defense, alleging the women were trying to take the entertainer down. "Forget these women," said his "Cosby Show" wife Phylicia Rashad.
"What you're seeing is the destruction of a legacy. And I think it's orchestrated. I don't know why or who's doing it, but ... Someone is determined to keep Bill Cosby off TV, and it's worked. All his contracts have been canceled."
Cosby's wife, Camille Cosby, even suggested her husband was the real victim. The man they are accusing is "a man I do not know," she said.
The AP went to court to compel the release of documents from Bill Cobsy's deposition in a sexual abuse lawsuit filed by former Temple University employee Andrea Constand — the first of a cascade of sexual abuse lawsuits against him. Cosby's lawyers had objected on the grounds that it would embarrass their client.
Cosby, 77, settled the lawsuit under confidential terms in 2006. His lawyers in the Philadelphia case did not immediately return phone calls Monday. Constand consented to be identified but did not want to comment, her lawyer said Monday.
Giving sworn testimony in the lawsuit accusing him of sexual assaulting Constand in 2005 at his home in Pennsylvania, Cosby said he got seven quaalude prescriptions in the 1970s. Constand's lawyer asked whether he had kept the sedatives through the 1990s — after they were banned — but was frustrated by objections from Cosby's lawyer.
"When you got the quaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these quaaludes for young women that you wanted to have sex with?" lawyer Dolores M. Troiani asked.
"Yes," Cosby answered on Sept. 29, 2005.
"Did you ever give any of these young women the quaaludes without their knowledge?"
Cosby's lawyer again objected, leading Troiani to petition the federal judge to force Cosby to cooperate.
Cosby later said he gave Constand three half-pills of Benadryl, although the documents show Troiani voiced doubt that was the drug involved. The two other women who testified on Constand's behalf said they had knowingly been given quaaludes.
Three of the women accusing Cosby of sexually assaulting them have a defamation lawsuit pending against him in Massachusetts. They allege that he defamed them when his agents said their accusations were untrue. Cosby is trying to get their case thrown out before discovery.
Cosby had fought the AP's efforts to unseal the testimony, with his lawyer arguing the deposition could reveal details of Cosby's marriage, sex life and prescription drug use.
"It would be terribly embarrassing for this material to come out," lawyer George M. Gowen III argued in June. He said the public should not have access to what Cosby was forced to say as he answered questions under oath from the accuser's lawyer nearly a decade ago.
"Frankly … it would embarrass him, (and) it would also prejudice him in eyes of the jury pool in Massachusetts," Gowen said.
U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno asked last month why Cosby was fighting the release of his sworn testimony, given that the accusations in the Temple woman's lawsuit were already in the public eye.
"Why would he be embarrassed by his own version of the facts?" Robreno said.
Lawyer Gloria Allred told the AP on Monday night that she hopes to use Cosby's newly unsealed testimony from 2005 in other court cases against the comedian.
"This confirms the allegations of numerous victims who have alleged that he had used drugs to sexually assault them," she said.
"This admission is one that Mr. Cosby has attempted to hide from the public for many years and we are very gratified that it is now being made public."
USA TODAY and Free Press staff contributed.