Entertainer Bill Cosby pauses during an interview about the upcoming exhibit, Conversations: African and African-American Artworks in Dialogue, at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art, on Thursday, Nov. 6, 2014, in Washington. After amassing a private collection of African-American Art over four decades, Bill Cosby and his wife Camille plan to showcase their holdings for the first time in an exhibition planned at the Smithsonian Institution. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bill Cosby will not dignify “decade-old, discredited” claims of sexual abuse with a response, his attorney said Sunday, the first reaction from the comedian to an increasing uproar over allegations that he sexually assaulted several women in the past.
In a statement released to The Associated Press and posted online, attorney John P. Schmitt said the fact that the allegations are being repeated does not make them true.
He doesn’t intend to “dignify” the allegations with a comment.
There has been a growing uproar over allegations that Cosby assaulted several women in the past.
The renewed attention to a dark chapter for Cosby began last month when a comedian, Hannibal Buress, assailed the veteran entertainer during a stand-up performance in Philadelphia, calling him a “rapist.” His remarks were captured on video and posted online, gaining wide exposure.
One of Cosby’s accusers, Barbara Bowman, recently leveled allegations of sexual assault against him in interviews and in an online column.
Cosby, who was never criminally charged in any of the cases, settled a civil suit in 2006 with another woman over an alleged incident two years before.