Defamation case thrown out

Bill Cosby has won a legal victory in his battle against a flurry of sexual abuse allegations.

Yesterday a court threw out a defamation lawsuit brought against the comedian by one of the women he is said to have assaulted.

Renita Hill had sued, claiming that statements that Cosby and his lawyer made to the media denying her claims were slanderous. They included his allegation that women were coming forward  ’unsubstantiated, fantastical stories’.

However judge Arthur J. Schwab declared that the statements were not defamatory under Pennsylvania law, as they were opinion and a far cry from labelling Hill and other women as ‘liars or extortionists’.

Hill, who is set to appeal the ruling,  is one of more than 50 women who have publicly accused Cosby of assault.

She was a  cast member of Picture Pages, a children’s educational programme hosted by Cosby in the 1980s, and she was put through school by the comedian.

Cosby denies her allegations that he assaulted her several times while she was semi-conscious or unconscious when she was aged about 15. He was never charged, and the statute of limitations has now expired.

The comedian is still fighting several lawsuits over his alleged sexual behaviour and has a criminal charge for aggravated indecent assault – a case his lawyers have called ‘unjustified’.

Published: 22 Jan 2016