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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Bill Cosby sues women who accused him of sexual assault | Bill Cosby sues women who accused him of sexual assault |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Bill Cosby, accused by more than 40 women of sexual assault, has filed a lawsuit claiming that several of them lied about him for financial gain. | Bill Cosby, accused by more than 40 women of sexual assault, has filed a lawsuit claiming that several of them lied about him for financial gain. |
| Mr Cosby, 78, is seeking unspecified monetary damages and said the women inflicted emotional distress. | Mr Cosby, 78, is seeking unspecified monetary damages and said the women inflicted emotional distress. |
| He called their accusations "nothing more than an opportunistic attempt to extract financial gain from him". | He called their accusations "nothing more than an opportunistic attempt to extract financial gain from him". |
| He filed the countersuit after seven of his accusers went to court seeking damages from the actor. | He filed the countersuit after seven of his accusers went to court seeking damages from the actor. |
| Their lawsuit alleges Mr Cosby and his representatives sought to tarnish their reputations after they went public with their claims of sexual misconduct. | Their lawsuit alleges Mr Cosby and his representatives sought to tarnish their reputations after they went public with their claims of sexual misconduct. |
| Mr Cosby has repeatedly denied the accusations and has never been criminally charged. | Mr Cosby has repeatedly denied the accusations and has never been criminally charged. |
| However, the accusers say Mr Cosby - over a period of decades - plied them with alcohol, drugged them and sexually assaulted them. | |
| The lawsuit contends that the women "engaged in a campaign to assassinate" his reputation and character. | |
| Mr Cosby has admitted in court proceedings that he obtained and gave women sedatives over the years, but he maintained that the women took the drugs willingly. | |
| A successful actor and comedian for decades, Mr Cosby shot to stardom in the 1980s with the sitcom The Cosby Show. | |
| The popular long-running show was considered ground breaking for its depiction of a successful black American family. | |
| He became a strong advocate of higher education and earned honorary degrees at several universities. | |
| However, amid the allegations many institutions such as Temple University and Boston University have distanced themselves from Mr Cosby, as have former co-stars. | |
| Media companies such as Netflix and NBC also dropped plans to develop television projects with him. | |
| Joseph Cammarata, a lawyer representing the women, said Mr Cosby's action "stinks of retaliation". | |
| "To suggest that these ladies - each and every one of them - got together and orchestrated a campaign against Mr Cosby is hard to fathom,'' he told AP news agency. |