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Cosby lawyers say release of his deposition broke terms of confidential 2006

Attorneys for Bill Cosby say a magistrate judge should resolve their claim that a woman who once accused the entertainer of sexual assault breached a 2006 confidential settlement agreement.

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Bill Cosby’s attorneys are looking to quiet the storm that erupted after a judge unsealed old court documents in his battle with accuser Andrea Constand. In a memorandum filed in federal court on Wednesday, the comedian’s legal team provides a laundry list of alleged breaches of the settlement on Constand’s part. The New York Times and the Associated Press obtained the deposition over the weekend, in which Cosby describes extramarital encounters.

But Cosby’s attorney’s say they did nothing to stop it, either – and for that, they want Constand to return her settlement money.

As Cosby’s team is on a new counteroffensive that includes blaming the media for salacious headlines and downplaying deposition comments as no admittance of rape, they are concurrently demanding the old confidentiality agreement be honored.

Cosby’s team also contends that Constand violated the confidentiality provision with a number of tweets, including a February 2014 tweet in response to an article about the case, in which Constand allegedly wrote, “I won’t go away, there is a lot more I will say”.

Cosby said in the deposition that he engaged in consensual activities with Constand after giving her three Benadryl pills for stress.

Two of the women were 19 at the time. She said she was given three glasses of wine, then had to rebuff the 60-something Cosby when he dropped his trousers. And one woman, Judy Huth, is attempting to get around statute of limitations with an allegation she was the victim of sexual misconduct by Cosby at the age of 15.

The Constand case had stayed largely out of view from 2006 until last year, when comedian Hannibal Buress called out Cosby’s behavior onstage and more accusers came forward. Soon after, Constand’s attorney asked for injunctive relief so that the full deposition could be released.

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In recent weeks, arts officials in Philadelphia have painted over a fatherhood-themed mural that showed a smiling, sweater-wearing Cosby along with Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other revered men.

Actor Bill Cosby performs at the King Center for the Performing Arts