New details from Bill Cosby’s 2005 deposition were published Saturday by the New York Times — among them confessions that Cosby hid his relationships with other women from his wife and details about how he seduced women.
The excerpts of Cosby’s 2005 deposition, which was obtained by the New York Times, elaborate on, as the Times puts it, Cosby’s “calculated pursuit of young women.” The deposition was from a case brought by Andrea Constand, a woman who Cosby has admitted to having a relationship with and who sued Cosby in 2005 on allegations that he drugged and raped her.
We already know from documents from that case that Cosby admitted to giving quaaludes, a powerful sedative, to women who he wanted to have sex with, and that he offered Constand money as long as she used it for college and maintained a 3.0 GPA. We also know that more than 40 women have accused Cosby of sexual assault. Here are four more revelations from Cosby’s newest deposition.
Cosby Admitted He Paid To Keep Affairs Secret
In the deposition, Cosby said that he sent a payment to Therese Serignese, who accused Cosby of sexual assault late last year, through his agent. Cosby said his agent sent money to Serignese and that he reimbursed the agent afterwards. He did this, he said, to ensure that his wife didn’t know that he was paying Serignese.
Cosby also said that he thought his wife, Camille, might have known that he was helping pay for Constand’s education. But, he added, “My wife would not know it was because Andrea and I had had sex and that Andrea was now very, very upset and that she decided that she would like to go to school.”
Cosby Said He Used A Woman’s Father’s Cancer To Get Close To Her
Cosby discusses his relationship with Beth Ferrier, a woman who accused him of drugging her, in the deposition. Constand’s lawyer, Dolores Troiani, asked Cosby of Ferrier: “She says that she stayed with you and that you began talking about her career and asking about her father who had died of cancer. Does any of that ring a bell with you?” Cosby responded, “yes.” Troiani went on to ask, “Did you ask her those questions because you wanted to have sexual contact with her?” Cosby again responded, “yes.”
Cosby Viewed His Sexual Encounter With Constand As Consensual
Cosby claims in the deposition that the only drug he gave Constand was a Benadryl for stress relief, though the New York Times reports that Constand’s lawyer thought the drug was more powerful. Cosby also explained in the deposition what happened after his sexual encounter with Constand:
“I walk her out. She does not look angry. She does not say to me, don’t ever do that again. She doesn’t walk out with an attitude of a huff, because I think that I’m a pretty decent reader of people and their emotions in these romantic sexual things, whatever you want to call them.”
Constand’s mother eventually found out about her daughter’s encounter with Cosby. Cosby said he thought that Constand should tell her mother “about the orgasm” as proof that the sex was consensual.
Cosby Had Seven Prescriptions For Quaaludes
In the 1970s, Cosby was able to get seven prescriptions for quaaludes from a doctor, Cosby said in the deposition. He told the doctor is was for his back pain, but he said he thought the doctor knew that Cosby, himself, wasn’t going to take them.
“What was happening at that time was that that was — Quaaludes happen to be the drug that kids, young people were using to party with and there were times when I wanted to have them just in case,” he said.
It’s still unclear whether Cosby’s deposition will lead to legal consequences for the former comedian.