Bill Cosby to Teach Young People How to Avoid Sexual Assault Charges
Less than one week after a judge declared Bill Cosby's sexual assault case a mistrial, the embattled actor-comedian is gearing up to "get back to work."
On Thursday, Cosby's rep, Andrew Wyatt, told Good Day Alabama host Janice Rogers that the actor is planning to hold a series of town hall meetings starting "sometime in July" to help educate young men and women about sexual violence specifically, the threat of being accused of inappropriate behavior.
"This is bigger than Bill Cosby," Wyatt said on the show. "This issue can affect any young person, especially young athletes, of today, and they need to know what they're facing when they're hanging out and partying, when they're doing certain things they shouldn't be doing. And it also affects married men."
Wyatt's reference to married men is a nod to the primary argument made by Cosbys defense attorney Brian McMonagle, that Cosby was a man who had been unfaithful to his wife, but not a perpetrator of sexual assault, as accuser Andrea Constand had testified. Added Ebonee Benson, a spokeswoman for Camille Cosby, "Laws are changing, the statute of limitations for victims of sexual assault are being extended, so this is why people need to be educated on a brush against the shoulder. Anything at this point can be considered sexual assault. It's a good thing to be educated about the laws."
When reached for comment, Wyatt issued a statement to Rolling Stone confirming the town halls and suggesting that he's hoping they will expose the larger forces at play in Cosby's trial.
"My Associate Ebonee Benson and I received hundreds of calls from civic organizations and churches requesting for Mr. Cosby to speak to young men and women about the judicial system," Wyatt tells Rolling Stone. "They feel that the young men and women need to be aware that Mr. Cosby was given a deal to never be criminally charged by Former DA Bruce Castor and 12 years later DA Kevin Steele runs a Willie Horton style campaign ad saying, 'If you elect me I will bring Bill Cosby to justice.'"
"These groups would like for Mr. Cosby to share that people in the judicial system can use their powers to annul deals for personal agenda and political ambitions," he adds. "Speeches will be free."