Documents obtained by BuzzFeed News reveal that Dickinson’s attorney will argue next week that Cosby should be deposed in the former model’s defamation lawsuit.
Bill Cosby in May 2015.
David A. Smith / Getty Images
In November of last year, Janice Dickinson — the former model and reality television mainstay — came forward to accuse Bill Cosby of having raped her in 1982. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, she alleged that Cosby had flown her to Lake Tahoe with the promise that he would help her career. Instead, she said, he allegedly gave her wine and a pill, and then sexually assaulted her.
Dickinson's story was similar to the pattern described by other Cosby accusers at the time. In the immediate aftermath of what Dickinson said, Netflix canceled a Cosby comedy special set to air later that month, and NBC scuttled its plans to create a family comedy around the formerly beloved comedian. TV Land also pulled reruns of The Cosby Show from its lineup.
When Dickinson came forward, Cosby had been facing a torrent of rape accusations, both old and new. Cosby himself has never spoken about any of the allegations — which now number more than 50 — nor has he publicly discussed the lawsuit he settled with Andrea Constand in 2006, who had accused him of drugging and molesting her.
But his attorney at the time, Martin D. Singer, did issue statements on his behalf, which now serve as the basis for Dickinson's defamation lawsuit against Cosby. In a letter to BuzzFeed News last year, published in its entirety here, Singer called Dickinson's claims "false and outlandish," and said she had "completely fabricated the story of alleged rape." Singer also accused Dickinson of lying about not including her accusations against Cosby in her memoir for fear of being sued.
Singer no longer represents Cosby, which was first reported by The New York Times last week.
Entertainment Tonight
On Monday, Nov. 2, Dickinson's attorney, Lisa Bloom, will argue that her client's defamation lawsuit against Cosby should be allowed to proceed, and that she should be able to depose both Cosby and Singer. In documents filed this week in Los Angeles and reviewed by BuzzFeed News, Bloom cites, among other things, a recent Massachusetts court's decision to allow another defamation lawsuit from three other accusers to proceed. She also cites Cosby's 2005 deposition in the Constand suit — unsealed in July 2015 — in which Cosby admitted under oath that he had given sedatives to women with whom he wanted to have sex.
In Dickinson's declaration, also filed this week in Los Angeles and obtained by BuzzFeed News, she retells her story about Cosby as well as why she did not include her allegations of rape in her memoir. She cites several people she has told the story to over the years, including her book's ghostwriter and the publisher of Dickinson's book, Judith Regan. She also specifies that in a 2006 appearance on The Howard Stern Show, she said, "The guy's a bad guy. Let me just say that. He preys on women that just come out of rehab."
Dickinson, who will have to prove malice in order to win this lawsuit, says her "peace of mind has been shattered" because of Cosby's camp saying she had lied about the alleged rape.
"I am not a liar," Dickinson's declaration states. "I am speaking the truth. Bill Cosby drugged and raped me. It was one of the worst experiences in my life."
Singer did not respond to a request to comment. Cosby's representative wrote in an email response to BuzzFeed News, "What will be posted from our opposition?" and then did not reply again.
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