Janice Dickinson reaches ‘very large settlement’ in Cosby defamation case
Janice Dickinson has reached a "very large settlement" with Bill Cosby's insurance company.
Former supermodel Janice Dickinson who was one of the leading sex abuse accusers against Bill Cosby is getting paid a “very large settlement” from his insurance company as a result of her defamation case.
On Thursday, Dickinson’s attorney Lisa Bloom announced the mega pay-out during a press conference, adding that the reality star will be “fully compensated for being called a liar.”
Dickinson, 64, filed the suit in 2014, claiming that she was victimized in 1982 by Cosby who she said drugged and assaulted her in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. Cosby’s former attorney Marty Singer went on a campaign to shame Dickinson, calling her a liar so she sued Cosby for defamation.
“Truthfully, a settlement is a victory and a measure of justice,” said Dickinson, CNN reports.
Her attorney presented her with a bouquet of flowers for the “epic” win.
“Let’s stop yielding our power to the perp,” Dickinson said. She encouraged victims of sexual assault to be unafraid to speak their truth.
“Tell your story and stand up for your rights.”
Andrew Wyatt, Cosby’s attorney disagreed that the settlement meant the convicted rapist was guilty.
“To be clear, AIG’s settlement of this lawsuit has no bearing whatsoever on the merit of Ms. Dickinson’s claims. Mr. Cosby has every confidence that had the case proceeded to trial, a jury would have found that the statements issued by his former attorney — statements which Mr. Cosby himself never spoke and which he played no part in preparing — were not defamatory,” he said.
Wyatt said the insurance company AIG even though they objected.
“This is the third example in recent months of AIG robbing Mr. Cosby of the opportunity to clear his name in a court of law, where evidence and truthfulness are supposed to be elevated above headlines and gossip,” Wyatt said.
—Supermodel Janice Dickinson: ‘Bill Cosby Raped me’—
“AIG’s apparent strategy to have Mr. Cosby tried exclusively in the court of public opinion has become clear, and its decision to settle each of these lawsuits over Mr. Cosby’s objections is illustrative of AIG’s bad faith.”.
Dickinson released her memoir (No Lifeguard on Duty: The Accidental Life of the World’s First Supermodel) in 2002 and says she attempted to write about the assault but was blocked by her publisher HarperCollins and Cosby’s lawyers.
She testified during Cosby’s trial saying she and Cosby had dinner in Lake Tahoe, and then he gave her a glass of red wine and a pill, which she asked for because she was on her period and had stomach pains.
In April, AIG reached a settlement with seven Cosby accusers.
