Gloria Allred sues Georgia county after being barred from Cosby comedy show

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/19/gloria-allred-bill-cosby-show-atlanta-georgia

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Gloria Allred, the attorney representing 28 of the 40 women who say they were victimized by Bill Cosby, said on Wednesday that she had filed a lawsuit against an Atlanta suburb and an event hall after she and other protesters were allegedly denied entry to the comedian’s show in May.

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During a press conference in Atlanta, Allred said she had filed a federal lawsuit against Cobb County and the Cobb-Marietta Coliseum & Exhibit Hall Authority, where the show was held. She will be represented by first amendment lawyer Cary Wiggins.

Allred says the police denied her entry to the 2 May performance and infringed on her “constitutional right of free speech without due process of the law”. She said she had had a ticket to the show, had not committed any crime and had not made any threats to disrupt the event.

Allred’s clients are accusing Cosby of drugging and sexually assaulting them.

“I was interested in attending Bill Cosby’s performance in part to gain insight that would help me in the representation of many alleged victims of Bill Cosby,” she said. “I did not intend to disrupt Mr Cosby’s show.”

She also said that police had her name on a list put together by Cosby’s representatives, Outback Productions, of those that “could not enter the theater”. Allred claims she was threatened with arrest if she entered. As evidence, she played a recording between herself and a Cobb County police officer from when she was denied entry.

Allred, who was called “a longtime master of the press conference” by the New Republic, added that after further investigation, she found out she had been placed on a “security watch list” by the police.

“Performers should not be able to commandeer a police force – as Bill Cosby’s representatives appeared to do – in order to exclude individuals from the performance because they have a different viewpoint than the performer has,” Allred said.

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center said they had no comment “since it is a pending legal matter”. Cobb County did not immediately respond to requests for comment.