A lawyer for Bill Cosby said on Sunday the comedian would not make any comment on “decade-old, discredited” allegations of sexual abuse.
On Saturday, during an interview on National Public Radio, Cosby twice offered no comment to questions about the allegations, which resurfaced recently.
Last month, the comedian Hannibal Buress, onstage in Philadelphia, called Cosby a “rapist”. Video of the performance was widely shared on the web. This week, an attempt to make a social-media “meme” for Cosby backfired when many users responded with mentions of the allegations.
One of Cosby’s accusers, the actress Barbara Bowman, wrote a column for the Washington Post and gave an interview to CNN. An appearance on CBS’s Late Show with David Letterman was cancelled.
In 2006, Cosby settled a lawsuit for an undisclosed amount of money with a woman who alleged he had drugged and raped her in 2004. Several women who raised similar accusations had agreed to testify if the case went to trial. Cosby has always denied such allegations and has never been criminally charged.
Attorney John P Schmitt released the statement on billcosby.com, saying Cosby would not “dignify” the allegations with a comment.
Schmitt’s full statement read: “Over the last several weeks, decade-old, discredited allegations against Mr Cosby have resurfaced. The fact that they are being repeated does not make them true.
“Mr Cosby does not intend to dignify these allegations with any comment. He would like to thank all his fans for the outpouring of support and assure them that, at age 77, he is doing his best work. There will be no further statement from Mr Cosby or any of his representatives.”
Cosby was scheduled to perform on Sunday, at the Warner Theater in Erie, Pennsylvania; a stand-up special is scheduled to be released by Netflix on 28 November. The star of the 1980s hit The Cosby Show has also been in talks with NBC over a new family sitcom.
