Bill Cosby, who has been accused by more than 40 women of sexual assault, is suing several of his accusers, claiming they lied about being raped for financial gain. The women’s lawsuit “is nothing more than an opportunistic attempt to extract financial gain from him”.
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Cosby, 78, is seeking unspecified monetary damages and said the seven women inflicted emotional distress, the BBC reported.
“The countersuit is the latest salvo in a legal battle that has been brewing in Springfield, Mass., since past year”.
The women have claimed Cosby defamed them by allowing his representatives to brand them as liars after they went public with allegations of rape and other sexual misconduct dating back decades.
The filing, in federal court in MA, seemed to signal a new aggressiveness on the part of Cosby, who had kept a low profile for months as dozens of women came forward, accusing him of sexual misconduct and assault.
The lawsuit was filed today in United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Western Division, Pressley said. Seven women – Tamara Green, Therese Serignese, Linda Traitz, Louisa Moritz, Joan Tarshis, Angela Leslie, Barbara Bowman – are suing Cosby for defamation after he hired a lawyer and publicist to deny their allegations, and it is this group that Cosby is now countersuing.
Joe Cammarata, who is representing the women in the case, said the suit was no shock.
He mentioned that he finds it “curious” that Cosby has only filed a counterclaim against the seven women, when over 50 women have accused him of having sexually abused them.
The lawyer for the seven women, Joseph Cammarata, issued a statement on Monday saying his clients want their day in court and “expect that their good name and reputation will be restored”.
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The women’s lawsuits were first filed in December 2014. Or do you think Cosby did in fact sexually assault them?
