Bill Cosby admission: What does it mean for pending cases?
For years, Bill Cosby has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault, but the comedian has denied the allegations. However, the recent release of court documents from a decade ago shows Mr. Cosby admitted to drugging young women in order to coerce them into sex.
An unsealed court document shows that in 2005 Mr. Cosby testified he got Quaaludes, a now-banned sedative, with the intent of giving them to young women and seducing them.
The 77-year-old comedian also recalled an encounter in the 1970s in Las Vegas. "She meets me back stage. I give her Quaaludes. We then have sex," the document reads, .
There have been more than 35 sexual accusations against Cosby, as , with the most recent accusations coming last May.
The women have accused Cosby of rape or sexual assault over the past 40 years.
Now with his 2005 testimony coming to light, some of Cosby鈥檚 accusers see this as a proof of his guilt.
"I never thought I would be validated or vindicated in this," said Joan Tarshis, one of the accusers who says Cosby twice in 1969 when she was 19. "I mean, it's turned my life around 180 because now all the people that haven't believed me or us have come out, most of them, and said, 'We were wrong.'"
Lawyer Gloria Allred, who represents accusing Cosby, on Monday that she hopes to use Cosby's testimony in other court cases against the comedian.
"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," she said.
The lawyer for , who has accused Cosby of a 1982 sexual assault,聽also said that "now we know why" Bill Cosby has failed to appear for a deposition in her defamation lawsuit against him.
And the lawyer for聽, who claims to have been assaulted in 1976,聽said of the latest Cosby revelations, 鈥渢hese documents ."
Some who previously defended Cosby are changing their positions in light of the new evidence, including singer Jill Scott.
But some are still on Cosby鈥檚 side. In a series of tweets, Faizon Love, an actor, that people are concerned about Cosby but are not 鈥渨orried about what鈥檚 going on now.鈥� In subsequent profanity-laced tweets, he focused attention on the recent聽.
Meanwhile, actor and TV host Whoopi Goldberg said she is still reserving judgment on Cosby. 鈥淚 say this because this is my opinion, and in America, still, I know it鈥檚 a shock, but you are still innocent until proven guilty," she said on ABC鈥檚 鈥淭he View鈥� on Tuesday.
Some Cosby critics see a bigger problem they call 鈥渞ape culture.鈥�
Cosby has never been criminally charged. He has not yet commented on the unsealed documents.
