Bill Cosby 'Presented Himself As an Unapologetic, Cavalier Playboy'

In a 2005 deposition recently obtained by the New York Times, Bill Cosby adamantly denied that he was a rapist, though his testimony revealed man who coerced younger women, promising mentorship and career advice to obtain sex.

Portions of the 1,000-page deposition transcript had already been reported by the Associated Press, who found that Cosby admitted to purchasing Quaaludes, “with the intent of giving them to young women he wanted to have sex with.”

In the longer transcript, the Times found a man who:

“…presented himself in the deposition as an unapologetic, cavalier playboy, someone who used a combination of fame, apparent concern and powerful sedatives in a calculated pursuit of young women — a profile at odds with the popular image he so long enjoyed, that of father figure and public moralist.”

The deposition also revealed a man who believed he was able to read the nonverbal cues of consent, who pressured women, plied them was drugs and took great pains to hide his infidelity from his wife.

According to the Times, Cosby’s behavior throughout the deposition was both cavalier and confrontational. The lawyer for the plaintiff, Andrea Costand, noted Cosby’s attitude: “ ‘I think you’re making light of a very serious situation,’ she said, to which Mr. Cosby replied: ‘That may very well be.’” Later in the deposition, Cosby became more combative:

Asked by Ms. Constand’s lawyer about how he felt when Ms. Constand cried during her own deposition, Mr. Cosby was unsparing: “I think Andrea is a liar and I know she’s a liar because I was there. I was there.”

Perhaps it’s not surprising that a man who has now been accused by dozens of women of rape and sexual assault would be dismissive of the charges against him. But for a man who has loudly proclaimed his innocence, Cosby exerted a great deal of effort hiding his behavior to preserve his reputation. He funneled money through his agent so that Camille Cosby, his wife and business manager, could not find out. He also pressured Costand’s family members:

[…] Mr. Cosby spoke with Ms. Constand’s mother on the telephone. The mother, he said, was upset about what her daughter said Mr. Cosby had done, describing the experience as “a mother’s nightmare.”

In the deposition, he said he was worried that Ms. Constand’s mother would think of him as a “dirty old man.”

During the call, Mr. Cosby told the deposing lawyers, he wanted Ms. Constand to tell her mother “about the orgasm” so that she would realize it was consensual.

“Tell your mother about the orgasm. Tell your mother how we talked,” he said he remembered thinking.

The transcripts also show that during Costand’s 2005 case, 13 women with anonymous statements came forward to confirm Cosby’s behavior, alleging that they too had been assaulted by the comedian. It makes one wonder how many sealed court cases and confidential settlements there are.