Supermodel Beverly Johnson reacts to newly-released Cosby testimony
Women who accused Bill Cosby of sexual abuse felt vindication on Tuesday. In sworn testimony released Monday, Cosby admitted he obtained Quaaludes with the intention of giving them to women he wanted to have sex with.
Supermodel Beverly Johnson is among dozens of women who stepped forward over the last year, accusing Bill Cosby of sexual misconduct. She claims she escaped an assault in the mid-1980s, after being drugged in the comedians apartment.
"The women and myself were very brave to come out and tell our story," Johnson said. "I think for the women it validates what they have been saying for a long time -- for years."
Johnson said she spent the night reading through 66 pages of newly released court documents in which Cosby admits he purchased drugs to give to women he wanted to have sex with.
That testimony came out of a sexual abuse lawsuit brought by then 19-year-old Temple University employee, Andrea Constand. Cosby eventually settled with her. But as more women came forward, his lawyers hoped to keep his testimony secret, arguing his right to privacy.
But Judge Eduardo Robreno disagreed, saying Cosby was a public figure who often lectured the black community on morality. The judge specifically cited a Cosby speech in 2004 at an NAACP event.
"No longer is a person embarrassed because they're pregnant without a husband," Cosby said at that event.
Given that, the judge said the public should see, "the stark contrast between Bill Cosby as a public moralist and Bill Cosby, the subject of serious allegations concerning improper (and perhaps criminal) conduct."
These documents were only released after the Associated Press petitioned the court to make them public. There is still no answers or statements from Cosby or his lawyers.