Cosby comeback may not be welcome
Bill Cosby woke up on Friday in his Elkins Park mansion a free man for the first time in more than two years.
But what does his future hold after a surprise decision by the state’s highest court to toss the 83-year-old comedian’s sexual assault conviction and bar prosecutors from ever trying him again? Cosby is planning a reunion with his wife, a possible return to the stage, and in the short term, ‘‘extra-crunchy-crust’’ pizza, his spokesperson Andrew Wyatt said.
Wyatt said Cosby is already busy at work plotting a comeback after spending his first night home from prison fielding congratulatory calls from his celebrity pals and noshing on pizza brought in from Zio’s in Centre City.
‘‘He stayed up until 2 in the morning telling jokes,’’ Wyatt said. ‘‘This morning, he’s been talking to a number of promoters and comedy club owners . . . He’s just excited the way the world is welcoming him back.’’
Whether Hollywood – and the American public – are ready to receive him remains an open question. His shows have largely been pulled off the air. His finances have taken a significant hit since his 2015 arrest. And for all the post-prison plans Cosby is making, his accusers say they have plans, too – including holding Cosby and a justice system they say failed them accountable with new lawsuits and pushes for legislative reform.
‘‘Mr Cosby is not home free,’’ said celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred, who is pursuing a civil case against the entertainer on behalf of a Los Angeles accuser.
Wyatt said the timing of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision on Thursday that led to the comedian’s release came as a surprise. Cosby learned of it from a prison guard in the state detention centre outside Collegeville where he had served more than two years of a three-to-10-year sentence.
‘‘An officer just opened up the cell door and said, ‘Hey, you getting out today’,’’ said Wyatt. ‘‘He heard all of this screaming from inmates knocking on the wall, ‘Get outta here, Bill! You’re free! Get outta here’!’’
But advocates for victims of sexual assault have been quick to point out that the court’s decision was not based on the sufficiency of the evidence that led to his conviction and it did not amount to a pronouncement of innocence.
Instead, the justices’ ruling focused on an oral agreement Cosby elicited 16 years ago from former Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce L Castor Jr that he would never be prosecuted for his alleged 2004 assault of Temple University sports administrator Andrea Constand if he agreed to sit for a deposition in a separate civil case she brought against him that eventually settled for $3.4 million.
On Friday, the two ranking members of the state Senate Judiciary Committee – chair Lisa Baker and Steve Santarsiero – announced they intended to pursue legislation that would make future non-prosecution agreements unenforceable unless they are in writing.
Meanwhile, lawyers for Cosby accusers still see him as a viable target for blockbuster legal settlements or judgments.
The only currently active civil suit stems from Allred’s client Judy Huth, who contends in a sexual battery lawsuit filed in Los Angeles that Cosby forced her to perform a sex act on him at the Playboy Mansion in the ’70s when she was 15. The case had been stayed by a judge until Cosby could be deposed. Now that he i’s out of prison, Allred hopes to schedule his testimony within months.
He could also face additional suits, depending on what, if anything, he says next, said lawyer Lisa Bloom, Allred’s daughter who represented supermodel Janice Dickinson, one of six Cosby accusers to testify against him at his 2018 trial.
Cosby’s insurer – American International Group – has quietly settled defamation suits from at least nine accusers.
But fresh claims for defamation could emerge, Bloom said, should Cosby go on a postprison publicity tour claiming vindication from his accusers.
But how much of his fortune is left after a seven-year scandal and his stint in prison is unclear.
Once an earnings juggernaut with residuals from reruns of The Cosby Show, appearance fees, and endorsements from brands like Jell-O, the comedian has legal bills that have been mounting for years – including payments owed to multiple sets of lawyers for two criminal trials, dozens of associated lawsuits, and the appeal that set him free.
And though he and wife Camille continue to hold properties in California, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New York, they have shed real estate worth tens of millions.
Wyatt said the comedian is now mulling legal action of his own — a potential malicious prosecution suit against the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, based on the Supreme Court’s finding that it had violated his due process rights.
Whatever his future plans, Cosby appeared for now just happy to be free as he left his Montgomery County home late on Friday to reunite with his family for the first time since his sentencing in 2018. He asked them not to visit him in prison, Wyatt said.
TNS