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Thanks to the Supreme Court decision to not revisit the ruling that overturned Bill Cosby’s 2018 sexual assault conviction, the now-disgraced actor-comedian once known as “America’s Dad” will remain a free man.
Without elaborating in an order issued on Feb. 7, the Supreme court declined to review the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court’s decision last June to release Cosby from his incarceration.
Cosby was convicted in 2018, for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman named Andrea Constand several decades ago.
The Supreme Court’s recent order was based on “the word of a former prosecutor who said he had made a secret promise to Cosby’s lawyers that he would never be charged,” according to the Associated Press.
As MADAMENOIRE reported at the time of the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court’s ruling, the decision to free Cosby came as a shock to many. The once highly-esteemed comedian only served two out of his three to ten-year sentence.
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A spokesperson for the 84-year-old comedian, Andrew Wyatt, expressed his “sincere gratitude to the justices” on Cosby and the star’s family’s behalf.
“This is truly a victory for Mr. Cosby, but it shows that cheating will never get you far in life,” Wyatt added.
Constand and her lawyers conversely said in a statement that the Supreme Court’s decision is an “unfortunate outcome for everyone, especially sexual assault survivors.” The victim’s camp also noted that the existence of the secret agreement or promise to Cosby’s legal team was “vigorously disputed in the (court) proceedings, and determined by the trial judge not to exist.”
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Since his release last June, Cosby quickly set out to do a comedy tour, co-author a book and involve himself in a five-part docuseries covering “his life, legacy, trial and prison experience.”
However, as MADAMENOIRE reported this past September, the comedian’s comedy tour was canceled due to a sexual assault civil lawsuit filed by one of Cosby’s alleged victims, Judy Huth.
While the proceedings on Cosby’s five-part docuseries are unclear, HBO’s recently released W. Kamau Bell-directed docuseries We Need to Talk About Cosby explored the complex story of comedian’s life and work, “weighing his actions against his indisputable global influence through interviews with comedians, cultural commentators, journalists and women who shared their most personal, harrowing encounters.”
Read more below.
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