Disgraced comedian Bill Cosby is apparently plotting a return to comedy, despite an ongoing sexual assault lawsuit.
In April 2018, Cosby was convicted in Pennsylvania of a criminal sex assault charge. However he was released in 2021 after the conviction was overturned on a legal technicality by the state Supreme Court.
Earlier this month, Cosby was served with a new lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault. The suit was filed on December 5 by five women who had previously alleged that the disgraced actor and comedian had abused them.
Despite this, Cosby has confirmed he is planning a return to comedy. During an unannounced appearance on US radio station WGH Talk, Cosby was asked by host Scott Spears about his wishes for 2023.
Cosby replied: “The reality of my situation gets clearer and clearer. The reality that my wife and family and friends respect me and respect what I’ve tried to do, and will continue to do. When we ‘get out of this mess’, I know who my enemies happen to be, and I know why they are my enemies. I respect people who have had a clear viewpoint of what has happened to me. And they have found no problem with looking at the situation.”
“When I come out of this, I feel that I will be able to perform, and be the Bill Cosby that my audience, in person, knows me to be,” he added.
He was then asked if he planned to return to the stage in 2023, with Cosby saying “yes, because there’s so much fun to be had in this storytelling that I do. Years ago, maybe 10 years ago, I found out it was better to say it after I write it. It is better to say it, and not try to write it the same way,” he added.
Cosby’s representative Andrew Wyatt confirmed (via Variety) that the comedian is “looking at spring/summer to start touring.”
Back in June, Cosby was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl in 1975. A majority of jurors found that Cosby had intentionally caused harmful sexual conduct with Judy Huth, now aged 64, when the two met at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles. Said jurors found that Cosby reasonably believed Huth was under the age of 18, and that his behaviour was motivated by unnatural or abnormal sexual interest in a minor.
Over the years, Cosby has been accused of sexual assault by more than 60 women.
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