Court asked to make public Cosby testimony

A Canadian woman has accused comedian Bill Cosby of violating a confidentiality agreement in their 2005 lawsuit. PHOTO: REUTERS

NEW YORK • A Canadian woman at the centre of sexual assault allegations against comedian Bill Cosby accused him on Wednesday of violating a confidentiality agreement in their 2005 lawsuit and asked a court to make public his entire testimony.

Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee, filed court papers in the Pennsylvania district court, also accusing Cosby and his advisers of manipulating the media through interviews and statements about the slew of sex assault allegations against him.

The lawsuit was filed two days after a Pennsylvania judge unsealed testimony in Constand's 2005 civil lawsuit against Cosby, in which the actor said he had obtained Quaaludes with the intent of giving the sedatives to women in order to have sex with them.

The case was settled in 2006 for an undisclosed sum and Cosby and Constand signed confidentiality agreements. In the past year, about 40 other women have come forward accusing the star of TV comedy series The Cosby Show of drugging and sexually assaulting them in incidents dating back decades.

Constand said in Wednesday's court filing that Cosby was questioned about other sexual allegations at the time and that the women involved had a right to hear what he said about them then and "a right to determine what if anything can be used as evidence in their respective cases".

Constand, a former basketball player from Toronto, asked the court to have Cosby's "entire de- position and settlement agreement released to the public".

She said that while she has remained silent, "Cosby himself has given a rather incoherent interview and used members of his family and others as surrogates to speak for him".

REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 10, 2015, with the headline Court asked to make public Cosby testimony. Subscribe