As trial nears, Bill Cosby says racism could be a factor [View all]
Source: CNN
In a rare interview airing Tuesday, Bill Cosby says he does not expect to testify at his upcoming felony sexual assault trial and that he believes racism played a big role in the scandal that has engulfed his life.
During a 30-minute conversation with Sirius-XM host Michael Smerconish, the 79-year-old entertainer portrays himself as a victim of the media and of accusers who were “piling on.” Cosby, who has been accused of sexual misdeeds by at least 60 women, cited a feminist author, saying “Gloria Steinem had a very interesting quote. She said, ‘The truth shall set you free, but first it might piss you off.’”
Cosby’s interview is part of a rollout of orchestrated media appearances in advance of the start of jury selection Monday in his trial on charges of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a former Temple University women’s basketball official, in 2004 at his estate in suburban Philadelphia. One of Cosby’s attorneys, Angela Agrusa, who is based in Los Angeles, recently told the Hollywood Reporter that she hopes to change “the optics” of Cosby’s presumed guilt and hinted she may use a theory of “false memory creation” to undercut his accuser’s credibility. Earlier this week, two of Cosby’s daughters — Ensa and Erinn — provided taped statements to “The Breakfast Club,” a nationally syndicated radio program about hip hop music, culture and politics.
“What my father and family have had to endure these last few years makes me ashamed of our country today,” Erinn said in her taped remarks. Her sister said: “I believe that racism has played a big role in all aspects of this scandal. . . . My father is being punished by a society that still believes black men rape white women, but passes off as ‘boys will be boys’ when white men are accused.”
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/in-a-pr-blitz-before-his-trial-bill-cosby-blames-racism-for-sexual-assault-claims/2017/05/16/409ea7d2-3993-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html?utm_term=.a7383ebd2c1e
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