Civil defamation suit against Bill Cosby thrown out
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- A federal judge in Massachusetts has dismissed a defamation lawsuit against comedian Bill Cosby, although he still faces criminal charges in Pennsylvania.
Judge Mark Mastroianni ruled Thursday that Katherine McKee didn’t adequately show Cosby defamed her when his representatives called a 2014 New York Daily News story on her rape allegations defamatory and demanded a retraction.
The former actress alleged the 79-year-old Cosby raped her in a Detroit hotel in 1974.
McKee was among dozens of women to come forward with allegations recently and among at least eight suing for defamation in Massachusetts, where Cosby owns a home.
Cosby’s lawyers called Thursday’s decision the “correct outcome.” McKee’s attorneys didn’t immediately comment.
In Pennsylvania, “The Cosby Show” star has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting a former employee at Temple University.