The transcripts from Bill Cosby’s 2005 testimony in Andrea Constand’s lawsuit against the comedian were finally obtained by the media on Monday and show that Cosby admitted to acquiring Quaaludes to give to women for sex. Now, the women who have come forward in the past year feel vindicated.
The testimony, was obtained by the Associated Press after a court battle to unseal the previously confidential case, which was settled out of court in 2006 before a trial. Cosby’s attorneys claimed that the testimony would embarrass their client.
Deadspin has made the testimony available in full. The documents reveal that Cosby had obtained seven prescriptions for Quaaludes to “other people.” They also show that Constad, who was a student at Temple University, only wanted an apology from Cosby. However, he still wanted to give her money for her “education.” Cosby did the same with another woman.
When Constand’s lawyer asked Cosby if he ever gave Quaaludes to women without their knowledge, Cosby’s attorney objected to the question. His attorneys claimed that two women who accused Cosby and were going to testify against him knew they were being drugged.
Since the documents were released, many of the victims and their attorneys have felt vindicated.
“This confirms the allegations of numerous victims who have said that he has used drugs in order to sexually assault them,” attorney Gloria Allred, who is representing several women who have accused Cosby, said in a statement to Fox News. “This admission is one that Mr. Cosby has attempted to hide from the public for many years and we are very gratified that it is now being made public.”
“If today's report is true, Mr. Cosby admitted under oath 10 years ago sedating women for sexual purposes,” Lisa Bloom, Janice Dickinson’s attorney, told Fox News. “Given that, how dare he publicly vilify Ms. Dickinson and accuse her of lying when she tells a very similar story?”
Dickinson, along with three other women in Massachusetts, are suing Cosby for defamation because his lawyers have called them liars in public.
Cosby’s reps told ABC News that the Constand case had to be settled “because it would have been embarrassing in those days to put all those women on the stand and his family had no clue,” adding, “That would have been very hurtful.”
Since comedian Hannibal Buress called Cosby a ‘rapist’ in October 2014, over 40 women have come forward to accuse Cosby of drugging and raping or sexually assaulting them.
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