Update 09/10/2021 10:00pm:
According to reports, Bill Cosby's upcoming comedy tour has been canceled as a result of the ongoing civil lawsuit he's facing stemming from allegations of sexual assault made by Judy Huth. Andrew Wyatt, Cosby's rep, confirmed the news with TMZ earlier today.
“Huth sued Cosby way back in 2014 for sexual assault, alleging he pounced on her at the Playboy Mansion in the ’70s, when she was just 15. He’s denied the allegations, and the suit stalled while Cosby faced the Andrea Constand case — but now, a trial date’s been set for Spring 2022,” reports the outlet.
Wyatt assured that the decision to nix the tour was not due to a lack of interest by fans or promoters. However, questions were posed as to what type of content Cosby would perform considering the outside chance that something he said on stage could be held against him in a court of law.
Original 08/13/2021 5:06pm:
During a status hearing held in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday (August 13), Judge Craig Karlan ruled that Judy Huth’s sexual battery civil case against Bill Cosby should go before a jury on April 18, 2022. The case was previously put on hold by Cosby’s Pennsylvania criminal case.
Huth alleges that when she was 15-years-old, a then-37-year-old Bill Cosby took her to the Playboy mansion, where she claims Cosby tried to kiss her in the mouth, slid his hands down her pants, and later grabbed her hand and forced her to perform a sex act on him. Huth originally filed the lawsuit in December 2014, and The Los Angeles County district attorney at the time declined to file criminal charges due to statute of limitations.
Cosby's attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, told reporters outside of the courthouse that Cosby plans invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination because he fears that prosecutors will use a potential deposition to charge him in criminal court, like in Pennsylvania. She explained, "There’s a lot of risk that what happened in Pennsylvania could happen again. We have to consider those things, even if he would love to testify."
The judge set a Sept. 30 hearing to discuss whether Cosby should be forced to testify in the civil case.
Source: New York Daily News
