Bill Cosby Won't Be Deposed in Janice Dickinson's Defamation Lawsuit, For Now

Bill Cosby and his old lawyer are probably breathing a slight sigh of relief. A California appeals court briefly halted an order requiring the embattled comedian and his former attorney to testify in a defamation law suit brought by Janice Dickinson.

Earlier this month, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ordered the depositions of Cosby and his initial lawyer Marty Singer to go forward. On Thursday, however, a 2nd District Court of Appeal put them on ice, according to the Los Angeles Times. Singer and Cosby were scheduled to be deposed on November 19 and 23, respectively.

The judge also “limited” the inquiry’s parameters to whether Cosby’s denial of Dickinson’s sexual assault was “malicious.” This provision would also stop the deposition from questioning Cosby about the numerous other women who’ve accused him of sexual assault and abuse.

“Mr. Cosby has employed several law firms with a combined total of over 700 lawyers in an attempt to avoid answering questions from me under oath in our case,” Bloom said in an email following the ruling. “We are confident that once the court of appeals hears full argument on the issues it will allow the deposition of Mr. Cosby and his attorney to go forward.”

In May 2014, Dickinson came forward alleging that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by The Cosby Show frontman in a Lake Tahoe, California hotel in 1982. Singer, Cosby’s lawyer at the time, called her story “completely fabricated.” Since then, Singer’s stepped away from Cosby and the actor’s new army of lawyers have been trying to get the case thrown out but have been unsuccessful.

Cosby is currently fighting a number of legal battles including the case filed by Judy Huth who claims he assaulted her when she as 15 years old during the 1970s. He’s also battling two fresh defamation cases, one filed by actress Louisa Moritz, according to TMZ, who says he forced his penis in her mouth in her Tonight Show dressing room and another by Kristina Ruehli. Cosby’s also fighting an investigation in Los Angeles into the alleged assault another model named Chloe Goins. It seems clear that the defamation suits will keep piling up until one judge allows the prosecution to question Cosby about the scores of alleged victims and his interaction with each of the women during a deposition.

Elsewhere, Drexel and Bryant universities have withdrawn Cosby’s honorary degrees.