Bill Cosby's Lawyer Tries To Silence Journalists Covering The Cosby Rape Allegations
from the lost-his-bluster dept
In case you haven’t read the news reports, Bill Cosby is having a terrible, no good, very bad few weeks. Ever since Hannibal Buress, a fellow comedian, brought up the fact that Bill Cosby has been accused of sexual assault and rape an incredible number of times, details of the accusations have been making headlines and formerly silent women have come forward with new accusations of their own. The pudding guy, on the other hand, has been remarkably silent on the matter, even as a Netflix special and a scheduled network sitcom are being sidelined as the controversy grows. In the midst of all this, one would think Mr. Cosby would be out there telling his side of the story. He isn’t. His lawyers, on the other hand, have been quite active, but most of their work has been in the arena of making sure that nobody’s side of the story gets out. In addition to blasting one of his alleged victims, who claimed her publisher nixed part of her book that detailed her allegations against Cosby, that letter to Buzzfeed from Cosby’s attorneys makes some barely-veiled threats.
Because you can confirm with indpendent sources the falsity of the claim that my client’s lawyers allegedly pressured the publisher to kill the story, it would be extremely reckless to rely on anything Ms. Dicknson has to say about Mr. Cosby since the story about the publisher is false…If you proceed with the false Story when you can check the facts with neutral independent sources who will provide you with facts demonstrating that the Story is false and fabricated, you will be acting recklessly and with Constitutional malice.
It goes on and on in that fashion. It’s worth noting that the neutral third parties the lawyers are insisting Buzzfeed rely upon are the same publishers that allegedly conspired with Cosby’s lawyers to pull the rape allegation from the book. So… yeah, not the most independent of choices, I don’t think. In any case, attempting to muscle journalists in any situation probably wouldn’t reflect well on their client, but doing so when Cosby is remaining completely silent on the matter, beyond the occasional attempt to intimidate journalists himself, really doesn’t look good.
Add to all of this the always laughable claim at the top of the letter sent to Buzzfeed:
CONFIDENTIAL LEGAL NOTICE
PUBLICATION OR DISSEMINATION IS PROHIBITED
And you can tell that they mean business because they used all caps. Too bad this is a statement equal parts meritless and futile. As Marc Randazza notes, the proper responses to that disclaimer all involve vulgarity.
No. Wrong. Jesus Hello Kitty Christ on a Rocket-Powered Toboggan, NO! It is NOT confidential. You CAN disseminate it.
Here is why: I JUST FREAKIN’ GAVE THIS LESSON, WILL YOU PEOPLE PAY ATTENTION????
That link he provides is a nice overview of why the confidentiality disclaimer is complete horseshit. In that rundown he highlights the futility of the disclaimer, since it’s ultimately reproduced when the recipient goes ahead and publishes the letter anyway. It lets any reader know not only that you’re the kind of lawyer who will make a false claim, but also that you don’t really want your actions to be known publicly, indicating that there’s something underhanded in all of this.
Which there is. Several women have now come forward at this point with claims of rape against Bill Cosby. You can choose to believe they’re all lying if you like, but attempts to muzzle the press aren’t going to get Mr. Huxtable very far, I fear.
Filed Under: bill cosby, confidential, defamation, intimidation, lawyers, rape, streisand effect, threats
Companies: buzzfeed
Comments on “Bill Cosby's Lawyer Tries To Silence Journalists Covering The Cosby Rape Allegations”
I’m a big fan of Cosby. But, without some evidence, I wouldn’t know who to believe. I’ll presume innocent till otherwise.
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I have to agree with this as well. While I’m not a fan of Cosby, until evidence is produced that confirms these allegations, he is presumably innocent. Does a woman generally need 20-30 years to address such a heinous crime as rape? I understand some time can be required to get over it, but I don’t readily buy allegations on behalf of leather handbags such as Janice.
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2. never really saw his tame ‘cosby’ family sitcom thing, parts of a couple episodes here and there…
3. was kind of half annoyed, half agreeing with him in regards to his recent lectures to -mostly- young black males… on balance, thought he was too judgmental and harsh…
4. when i became aware of all this stuff a while back, did a little esearch, and -innocent until proven guilty, blah blah blah- MY OPINION was, this is fucked up, seems like there is NO DOUBT he used -at least- his position of authority and influence to get himself laid with a bunch of young woman…
5. now, HOW MUCH was naive, trusting, and ambitious young woman wanting to -no pun intended- get a leg up in ‘show bidness’, and how much was him being a nasty predator, IMPOSSIBLE for ME to tell…
HOWEVER, the drugging thing -assuming true- is WAY BEYOND acceptable behavior; that is a horrible offense just on its own, never mind raping compounding that to the n’th degree…
6. whatever nastygrams, threats, etc on his/his lawyers part, is kind of a sidebar that pales in comparison to the original sins…
7. one wonders how many others were willing participants in whatever affairs he had, as it is easy enough to see that some woman would want to have an affair with a rich, famous, good-looking (or at least when younger) influential show biz guy…
hell, i’m sure hollyweird NOBODIES we have never heard of harvest more than their share of woman through such slimey tactics, promises, etc…
its a longstanding trope for a reason: it happens…
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This is truly an unfortunate sentiment.
Rape is the most under-reported crime – especially so in the case of disparity of celebrity, wealth, or power. All of such factors are present here.
I believe in the legal presumption of innocence, requiring that a prosecutor prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt, but I am also a human being, and in my own private mind, I find it inconceivable that so many women, who do not know each other, would come forward with the same fact-pattern. So if I were called to sit on a jury, I would do my best to actually listen to the evidence and faithfully execute my duties – but as a man of science, let me tell you, there is a slim fucking chance that he did not sexually assault multiple women over the course of years, with the aid of drugs to incapacitate them, and that he is now completely remorseless. And given that right now one of the most globally important issues is the education of women, their liberation from sexual slavery, and the proper treatment of and justice for sexual assault, it couldn’t be more fitting for a man of Cosby’s stature to wind up on trial.
Not suggesting that this is the right way to go about it but isn’t there something to be said for attempting to limit the trial by media before the entire jury pool is convinced he’s guilty?
Also how do you fight such a claim? There’s little to no evidence this far down the line…
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Well, the public and real life isn’t a court of law.
And people’s own opinion is their own, so they can choose to disbelieve the over 10+ woman’s accusation, that Mr.Cosby himself hasn’t said anything, and that none of his co-star or other media star has really come to his defense.
Real life isn’t CSI, if it’s just one person, it might be questionable, but when it’s over 10 woman, it’s generally enough evidence for most people.
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I haven’t read about this scandal, and I don’t intend to.
I don’t know the details, but unlike most people talking about it, I know I don’t know the details.
If eleven other people take the same stance, then Mr. Cosby can be tried in court, and we’ll look at all the evidence that exists with all the objectivity we can muster.
Until then, I don’t find 10 non-independent accusations against such a public figure much more convincing than 1, and his silence and the silence of media stars don’t convince me of anything at all.
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15 Women have, and 2 more today, one of them the wife of Lou Ferrigno’s.
So t hat’s 17 women, and not counting the settlement that Bill Cosby had in 2006 for undisclosed amount.
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Is Lou Ferrigno known for choosing women of exceptional veracity? Does being married to Lou Ferrigno dispel the feminist tendency to define rape as almost anything, or the human tendency to seek fame and public sympathy, or to invent evidence to help convict someone already thought to be guilty?
Why did you mention it (without parentheses)? Please be honest; does her being married to Lou Ferrigno make you feel that she should be believed more than someone who isn’t?
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Don’t make Lou angry, you don’t want to see Lou when he’s angry…
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How many women does it take to make a verifiable fact? Is it 20? It only takes 3 licks to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop.
Why are you relying on numbers as evidence?
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If eleven other people take the same stance, then Mr. Cosby can be tried in court,
At any time for any reason Mr. Cosby can be tried in court if a Judge allows the case to be heard.
1, 11, 111 accusers don’t change that.
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In the Dickenson case, no, he cannot.
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Ever heard of a jury? How many people are that again… hmmm.
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Fortunately or not, therein lies the problem. If Ms. Dickenson’s claim is true, it cannot be prosecuted either in California (Cal. Penal Code § 800) (Nev. § 171.085) (I am not sure which side of Tahoe the allegations are made on)
The larger issue here is even if her claim is legitimate, it is up to her, her attorneys or prosecutors to allege and prove the rape, not for Cosby to fight it. It seems that Mr. Jello himself is making the right move by being silent but that his lawyers are being stupid by invoking the Streisand effect.
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He can’t be prosecuted, but he can still be sued in civil court for damages. As with O.J. Simpson, he doesn’t have to be proven guilty, just considered more likely than not to be guilty.
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Yeah like that decision that Iran was guilty of 911, lol. Civil suits are such BS.
Is Cosby that broke?
I know he hasn’t been on TV in a while, but I would still think that he could afford a less incompetent attorney.
It’s all rumors until it’s not , In this case sensationalizing something that may or may not be true. Is a bit FOX NEWSy ,verify and then report not in reverse , As for Mr Cosby’s attorney he needs to go back to law school.
Patton Oswalt on Twitter 11/18/14:
“You were the first reason I wanted to do comedy. I’ll always marvel at your genius onstage. But here’s where we say goodbye, Bill Cosby.”
Wrong-o
“And you can tell that they mean business because they used all caps.”
No, Timmy. You can tell they mean business because they used all caps, italics, AND underline. Also telling is that they apparently didn’t really REALLY mean business because they didn’t also bold it.
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And apparently your fascist website won’t let me underline in comments. So much for that free speech you pretend to love so much!
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or a tag.
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Well, that didn’t come out right. Imagine if you will
or a [REDACTED] tag.
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(underline isn’t one of the “Allowed HTML Tags” on this website, apparently. Look at the bottom of the box when you’re typing a comment)
…Holy fucking Christ on a cross-shaped cracker! Has this ‘attorney’ not heard of the Streisand Effect?!
Or little secret
That confidential legal notice has about a much weight as a child molester saying “don’t tell anyone about this or you’ll get in big trouble!”
This lawyer of Mr. Cosby's...
…seems to lack an acceptable grasp of literary English enough to be a lawyer, let alone council to an affluent celebrity.
To borrow an expletive, Jesus Hello Kitty Christ on a rocket-powered toboggan, squire, use a freakin’ thesaurus. There are plenty of good ones free on the internet.
I DECLARE CONFIDENTIALITY
is the white collar equivalent to the schoolyard bully’s “and *f you tell anyone *’ll beat the fuck*ng sh*t out of you.”
(sorry for the missing Letter, but it has declared confidentiality)
CONFIDENTIAL COMMENT POST. PUBLICATION OR DISSEMINATION IS PROHIBITED.
For all the people asking, (or thinking) “Why were Bill Cosby’s accusers so quiet about this until now?” Here is my response…
The cost of telling these kinds of stories is higher than you could possibly imagine. If you come forward as a victim of sexual assault, prepare to be bombarded with questions like: Why did you put yourself in that position? Why were you stupid enough to wear that dress/take those pills? Why didn’t you fight him off? Etc. etc. victim-blaming etc.
God forbid you’re a nobody, because then you’re only doing this for your fifteen minutes of fame, or for the money, or for attention. God forbid you’re a public figure, because then your own accomplishments will be overshadowed by the worst thing that has ever happened to you; a Google search of your name will turn up RAPE RAPE RAPE, which is exactly the sort of thing you want to be associated with, forever.
From that moment on, you will cease being a person and become a “victim” in the minds of the public (whether you accept the label or not), your sanity and mental health are forever in question, you are considered irrevocably damaged. You now have “problems.” Problems that make other people deeply uncomfortable, problems they don’t want to have to think about.
Not to mention that the rapist in question in this particular case —Bill Cosby— is a powerful man who has so much money and influence that it’s impossible to imagine anyone more influential; for kids who grew up watching the Cosby show (as millions did), Cosby was LITERALLY viewed as a father figure, and the man is so rich that he tried to BUY NBC in the ’90s. Please, take a moment to let that sink in.
These are stories women are discouraged from telling. We are not supposed to have “let this happen.” We are not supposed to have gone out late at night. We should not have trusted our own judgment, we should not have trusted the men who hurt us, we should have known this would happen. Chances are, you have been taught to believe these things your whole life, and part of you probably still believes them.
And if you have read this far and your takeaway is still that Cosby is “innocent until proven guilty,” consider that you are contributing to the problem. Consider that Cosby will likely never see the inside of a courtroom, that in 2006 he settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of money, which was probably received by a woman who was intimidated and threatened by Cosby’s lawyers, who would not have been able to afford the kind of legal counsel available to Cosby, who wanted justice as much as you and I do (hell, more), but who realized that our society is deeply fucked up and stacked against women, who wanted her life to return to normalcy as soon as possible, who did not want to have to face Cosby again in a courtroom. To go to court would be to risk losing even more, and she had already lost enough.
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“I have to agree with this as well. While I’m not a fan of Cosby, until evidence is produced that confirms these allegations, he is presumably innocent. Does a woman generally need 20-30 years to address such a heinous crime as rape? I understand some time can be required to get over it, but I don’t readily buy allegations on behalf of leather handbags such as Janice.”
And it’s because of attitudes like this that women do stay silent for long periods of time. Rape is demeaning, dehumanizing and debilitating form of violence – courage to speak out at a time when it takes courage to continue breathing.
If it was 1 or 2 women, I’d be more on the fence. But it’s not. It’s closer to 17+ unrelated women. The odds aren’t looking good.
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It is just 2 women. The media keeps repeating these crazy numbers, “15 women,” along with the same nonsense, “well, if it was just 1 or 2 maybe he would deserve the benefit of the doubt.”
There are 2. A third person had a lawsuit, but settled it and isn’t talking, so we don’t know what the details were or if there was wrongdoing.
Of the 2, 1 made racist statements, “I wonder how many other white women this has happened to?” that really call her character into question, and present an obvious motivation to lie about the whole thing.
Also, 1 of the 2 describes passing out after drinking a cocktail, waking up to a naked Cosby, and then… consenting to sex! Which she describes as rape. But really, pay attention to the details of the accusation. She is claiming to have woken up just in time to consent, and then feeling like he was a creeper afterwards. And in her autobiography she didn’t just leave it out, she gave a totally different account of the incident, even including dialogue. She claims she was “pressured,” but why not just leave it out? Why make up a fake account? If she is that willing to casually lie, especially to protect a criminal, how can she now be believed?
2 is not 15, and I’ve yet to hear a single detailed accusation that even sounds like what they’re presenting in the blurbs and headlines, much less one with any sort of corroborating account or even circumstantial support.
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That is your opinion. I know rape is dehumanizing and demeaning and I do empathize with those victims. But, spare me your “attitudes like that..” speech. I did not attack their trauma, but simply state that one cannot pass judgement without the facts. Unfortunately, rape has been used before as false statements. Look at both sides before you start injecting your gender bias.
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The other way of looking at of course is that with their silence these women allowed other women to be raped.
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well, it’s not like these women deserve to be ‘innocent until proven guilty’.
lets just all assume they must have done something wrong. surely they’re are attention seekers. they must be lying. they done it for some sort of gain, fame or money, or both. they allowed other woman to be raped.
lets just put them in jail and be done with it
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That can be true only if multiple rapes actually occurred. End even if they did, I’m not convinced that the victim of the first rape would be culpable for the second. The second victim could say to the first “if you had gone straight to the police, I might not have been raped”, but that does not necessarily mean she can say “my rape was partly your fault”.
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i didn’t exactly meant it like that. i don’t think anyone should be accountable for the rape beside the rapist. the victim is not responsible for the choices that the rapist made or will make in the future. rapist aren’t usually 5 years old.
what surprises me the most here is that the amount of ‘doubt’ for both sides is so disproportionate, and not in a way one can expect. let’s be fair here. if we are saying ‘he might or might have not done it’ we should also say ‘she may or MAY NOT be lying’.
surprisingly, in many cases, the ‘may not’ part seems to be missing from the SECOND statement? i don’t get it.
we are talking about a crime here, if we were talking about a murder or theft, not rape, i bet a lot less people will be saying it like that:
‘he stole my car’
‘you are probably lying, you sold it for parts yourself, lets not investigate it at all, because that person you say broke your nose and grabbed your keys might be innocent… on top of that, you should be held responsible for all other cars the bastard stole, even if he didn’t stole yours. because you’re lying.’
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‘The cost of telling these kinds of stories is higher than you could possibly imagine… [If your position] is still that Cosby is “innocent until proven guilty,” consider that you are contributing to the problem.’
Really? In addition to being despised and found guilty in the court of public opinion, will some of these women lose their jobs? Will their homes be vandalized? Will they sometimes be beaten up — and occasionally killed — by vigilantes? If these women are university students, will student groups circulate petitions that they be expelled? Will there be serious attempts to change the laws so as to strip these women of their civil rights and convict them of felonies without due process?
No? Then they don’t have it as bad as a man accused of rape.
Oh, and you are most definitely part of the problem, and if I were a patronizing ass I’d say that these things were more serious than you could possibly imagine.
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Google “Rape victim vandalized” and let me know how you get on.
Snitches get stitches and victims are often intimidated by friends and relatives of the accused.
All of the posters here babbling about “innocent until proven guilty in a court of law” seem to forget that celebrities are 100% creations of public perception. It’s not a question of legal guilt at this point, rather a question of reputation and perception.
The pattern of accusations against Cosby is similar to the pattern of accusations against the Catholic Church in the past. Once a multitude of accusations become consistent enough they start to generate a shift in pubic perception which is what we are seeing here.
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yeah – A “multitude of accusations” DOES tend to shift public opinion…. that doesn’t make it true at ALL. The MAJORITY of people think that POLAR BEARS are endangered because of the ‘global warming’ commercialization. It doesn’t make it true – especially when people don’t bother to look up the current numbers of polar bears…
SO you can go ff all esoteric about how the public ‘conjures’ up celebrity, but its the MEDIA who is responsible for continuing to spout allegations as if they were facts. The Media should be held responsible for CONTINUING their ACTIVE attempt to shift public opinion where there is NO EVIDENCE.
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Ah, and the truth comes out: you are a troll.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_bear#Conservation_status.2C_efforts_and_controversies
There are, at the highest estimates, 25,000 polar bears left. That is not a lot of polar bears.
But your point, and the way you express it, demonstrates that you are willing to be credulous and accept counter-narratives simply for the sake of their antagonism – in the case of polar bears, that there is some economic entity that is profiting from selling a story of global warming, and is using polar bears as a selling point. Well, I can assure you, this is an absurdly ignorant point. The entirety of all media outlets profit margins, put together, are a blip on the radar of BP, Cargill or Exxon. Meaning that if you think there is some vast media conspiracy behind the reports of global climate change, you vastly overestimate the power of the media in relationship to corporate interests.
Second, you clearly are defending the ‘Cos because, for some reason, you think it intellectually fashionable to have a counterpoint to prevailing wisdom.
Sometimes, however, it is just that: 1) prevailing. 2) wisdom.
It is simply unlikely that 15+ women all come forward with similar fact patterns about sexual assault. And, please, forgive me, but the fact he is a celebrity weighs precisely zero: there were similar opportunities for the condemnation of tons of rich, white, connected politicians, with deeper pockets than Cosby, including, but not limited to, the multiple, repeated attempts of Larry Flint offering $1M payouts for sexually incriminating stories of politicians he does not like. Surely, you must realize that if those offers failed to produce a similar chorus, then your theory is hokum?
Unfortunately, your posts reek of misogyny and self-righteousness. I am sure my post reeks of self-righteousness too – but as a white male corporate attorney who is also a feminist, I have zero compunction about that.
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You forget that the Catholic Church also had documents about offending priests as well. It wasn’t just accusations.
That’s what is lacking here, so far.
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well, at least you admit there is NO EVIDENCE. That’s a start.
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The accusation and statement by the victems are EVIDENCE.
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First-hand testimony is evidence.
Source: lawyer.
Cosby
This is much to do about nothing: just a man have a nice peace during the night and greedy women now want money for giving it up. They women should be put on trial for deceit and fraud.
Re: Cosby
…aaaannnnndddd that’s why rape is an under-reported crime, folks!
In 2013, over 34,000 WHITE WOMEN were RAPED by BLACK MEN in s2013
In 2013, over 34,000 WHITE WOMEN were RAPED by BLACK MEN in s2013
In 2014, 8 BLACK WOMEN were RAPED by WHITE MEN
BILL COSBY: http://www.aol.com/article/2014/12/02/janice-dickinson-bill-cosby-is-a-monster/21001578/?ncid=webmail17
QUESTION: Why does the MAINSTREAM MEDIA ignore BLACK on WHITE HATE CRIMES?
MARK TRAINA is a STAFF WRITER for the NAAWP
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION for the ADVANCEMENT of WHITE PEOPLE – 2014
Re: In 2013, over 34,000 WHITE WOMEN were RAPED by BLACK MEN in s2013
In 2013, over 34,000 WHITE WOMEN were RAPED by BLACK MEN in s2013
In 2014, 8 BLACK WOMEN were RAPED by WHITE MEN
[Citation Needed]
These Women Need To Reveal What Did All Of Them Think Bill Cosby Could Do For Them.
I not saying it never happen, but to let so much time pass by. Where we all know back in the 60’s something like this happening. What’s the chance of that happening.