Cosby says he is blind

Comedian Bill Cosby has revealed that he is blind. In the interview - his first since May 2015 - with the National Newspaper Publishers Association, the 79-year-old recounted waking up one morning two years ago and telling his wife that he "can't see".

Doctors later told him they could not restore his sight.

According to Time magazine, Mr Andrew Wyatt of Purpose, a public relations firm that Cosby has worked with, told the association: "When he would perform, we'd draw a wide straight yellow line from backstage to the chair on the stage and he'd rehearse the walk, hours before the show." Cosby stopped touring in 2015 after some venues axed his shows and accusations of sexual misbehaviour grew.

In the interview, he did not dwell on his legal problems. But he noted that he and his wife had paid for the education of thousands of "mostly low-income African-American students", The New York Times reported.

He is set to go on trial on June 5 for allegedly drugging and raping a woman in 2004.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 28, 2017, with the headline Cosby says he is blind. Subscribe