Major libel lawsuit against Bill Cosby settled in favor of seven of his accusers



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The terms of the settlement, disclosed in a document filed Friday in the Western Division of the US District Court of Massachusetts, were not disclosed.

Cosby's public relations representative, Andrew Wyatt, said Friday in a statement sent to the Washington Post that Cosby's insurance company, AIG, had decided to settle the dispute and that the 81-year-old actor was still pursuing action. defamation against the seven women.

"Mr. Cosby has not settled anything with anyone, he does not pay anything to anyone," the statement said. "AIG has decided to settle these cases without knowing it, without the consent and / or consent of Mr. Cosby." Mr. Cosby vehemently denies the allegations against him in the context of these defamation suits and maintains his innocence."

AIG, who could not be contacted for comment, was involved in the case as he was obliged to pay for legal services in the event of defamation for Cosby under the provisions of his owner's policy . AIG tried in vain to deny the coverage, arguing that the police involved an exclusion related to sexual assault or sexual harassment.

In court documents, Joseph Cammarata – the lawyer for the seven defendants based in Washington DC – wrote that "every complainant is satisfied with the settlement".

On Friday night, AIG spokesman Matthew Gallagher said in a statement sent to the Post that "we do not publicly comment on specific claims issues.Some insurance policies give insurers the power to resolve claims when the insured has been informed ".

The settlement puts an end to one of the many legal battles Cosby has faced since dozens of women began to publicly accuse him of sexual mischief in 2014.

Cosby was sentenced to three to ten years in prison in September, after being convicted of drugs and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand last year, while she was a member of the United States. Women's basketball team from Temple University. But even as he was handcuffed and chased from a suburban Philadelphia courthouse, the comedian was still facing the prospect of several lawsuits brought against him by other accusers.

The defamation case settled Friday was filed in Massachusetts because Cosby is home there. The case featured some of Cosby's most recognizable accusers, including Tamara Green – one of the first women to accuse the comedian of sexual assault; actress Angela Leslie and Barbara Bowman, a model who wrote a column in the Washington Post in 2014, accusing Cosby of sexual assault.

Bowman, Green and their co-plaintiffs – Linda Traitz, Therese Serignese, Joan Tarshis and Louisa Moritz – claimed that they had been defamed when Cosby's legal team had said they were not telling the truth about the allegations of ## 147 ## 39, sexual assault. Moritz, an actress who starred in the movie "Flight over a Cuckoo's Nest", died earlier this year. She had accused Cosby of having sexually assaulted her in the green room of "The Tonight Show".

Cosby, who was charged with sexual harassment by more than 60 women between the 1960s and 2008, denied sexually assaulting a woman.

The Massachusetts trial proved particularly painful, sometimes for the Cosby family. In 2016, Cosby's wife, Camille, refused to answer questions 98 times in videotape evidence related to the case.

Cosby has sued the seven women for defamation and this case remains unresolved. Cammarata, known to have represented Paula Jones in his sexual harassment lawsuit against President Bill Clinton, said in court Friday that he would seek to dismiss Cosby if the lawsuit was not withdrawn.

The legal problems of Cosby are far from being solved. Chloe Goins, a model who claims that Cosby drugged and assaulted her at Playboy Mansion in 2008, filed a lawsuit for sexual violence against the comedian. And he is also facing a possible lawsuit related to allegations of assault made by a Californian woman, Judy Huth, who claims to have sexually assaulted her while he was a minor.

He is also facing a defamation suit brought by Janice Dickinson, an old supermodel. Dickinson appeared at Cosby's trial last April, detailing his allegation that he had been sexually assaulted at a Nevada hotel in 1982, then turned to the comedian sitting at the defense table and l & # 39; 39, called "monster".

This article was written by Manuel Roig-Franzia, Washington Post reporter.

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