7 Jul 2015

Bill Cosby ‘obtained sedatives for sex’

US comedian Bill Cosby admitted he obtained sedatives he intended to give to young women before sex, according to court documents.

Bill Cosby (Reuters)

Cosby, 77, made the admission during testimony in a 2005 civil case in the US brought by a woman who alleged he tricked her into taking drugs before sexually assaulting her.

She is one of many women who have publicly accused him of sexual assault dating back decades.

The case was settled for an undisclosed sum in 2006, but the documents in the case were unsealed on Monday after an application from the Associated Press news agency.

His lawyers had argued that the documents would cause severe embarrassment to the comedian-actor, best known for playing loveable father figure Dr Cliff Huxtable on the hit TV comedy series the Cosby Show in the 1980s and 1990s. Cosby’s lawyers have not commented yet.

40 women

In the past year, more than 40 women have alleged that Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted them. His lawyers have consistently denied the allegations.

Bill Cosby has never been charged, and most of the allegations exceed the statute of limitations, but his career has been affected, with TV projects and live shows cancelled.

Cosby testified that in the 1970s he had obtained seven prescriptions for Quaaludes, the brand name for a sedative and muscle relaxant that was widely abused as a recreational drug in the 1970s.

He was asked in the 2005 deposition: “When you got the Quaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these Quaaludes for young women that you
wanted to have sex with?” He replied: “Yes.”

Cosby said he met a woman in Las Vegas, adding: “She meets me back stage. I give her Quaaludes. We then have sex.”

In May, Cosby told ABC television he did not want to discuss the allegations against him.