Examining Accusations Against Bill Cosby
JANICE DICKINSON, COSBY ACCUSER: I was only thinking of stuffing it inside an area so deep in my subconscious that it is now coming up and I'm sober today through the grace of god and I have crystal clear memories of this entire incident.</s>ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST: Sexual assault accusations against Bill Cosby have been around for years. But sporadic media coverage has meant maybe people didn't know as much about it as they certainly know now after 17 women have come forward. CNN's Jean Casarez looks at how journalist may have failed to cover the scandal over the past decade.</s>JEAN CASAREZ CNN CORRESPONDENT: For years, their stories have been out there.</s>BARBARA BOWMAN, COSBY ACCUSER: I didn't really talk about it much, because nobody was believing it.</s>BETH FERRIER, COSBY ACCUSER: People did not want to believe our story.</s>JEWEL ALLISON, COSBY ACCUSER: I finally said, I can't live in fear for the rest of my life.</s>CASAREZ: But it is only been in the last month that the stories and the graphic detail have gained traction. Cosby's attorneys have denied these allegations.</s>JOAN TARSHIS, COSBY ACCUSER: The next thing I remember is being on his couch with him taking my clothes off.</s>THERESE SERIGNESE, COSBY ACCUSER: My next memory is feeling drugged and him having sex with me.</s>CASAREZ: What took so long, turns out the accusers may not have been the only ones reluctant to tell the stories. Mark Whitaker, who used to work for CNN in his 2014 authorized biography of Bill Cosby, doesn't touch the topic. And Whitaker didn't bring it up in a recent appearance right here on CNN tonight just weeks before the scandal (inaudible) wide open.</s>MARK WHITAKER, COSBY BIOGRAPHER: He has been a pioneer in so many areas. I knew that the Cosby Show is so big that people forget, you know, all the other ways in which he, you know, advance entertainment. And then an African-American man becomes the most successful advertising pitchman in the country.</s>CASAREZ: Bob Huber, former writer for Philadelphia Magazine, is outraged that Whitaker left it out.</s>BOB HUBER, FORMER WRITER, PHILADELPHIA MAGAZINE: Frankly, I think it's unconscionable. These allegations have been out there for almost a decade.</s>CASAREZ: Huber admits in his 2006 profile of Cosby, he didn't question the star about the accusations. He blames not being able to get close enough to Cosby to ask him.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You were writing about this, you were doing this big profile. You got invited to spend some time with Cosby, right, but you weren't allowed to ask him questions?</s>HUBER: Right.</s>CASAREZ: New York Times columnist, David Carr put Whitaker's omission front and center in his column for the Times last week. Those in the no included Mark Whitaker who did not find room in his almost 500-page biography to address the accusations that Mr. Cosby had assaulted numerous women. Whitaker then responded to the omission for the first time by twitting this, "David, you are right. I was wrong not to deal with the sexual assault charges against Cosby and pursue them more aggressively." Carr also calls himself an enabler of the alleged mistruths when it comes to Cosby. And those in the no also included me. CNN has obtained a sworn deposition Bill Cosby gave in 2005 as part of an ongoing civil suit brought by former Temple University employee Andrea Constand. That suit ultimately was settled but in this deposition Cosby says that a media outlet suppressed another woman's story at his request. Cosby was asked, what is your understanding of the agreement that you have with the National Enquirer concerning your exclusive interview? I would give them an exclusive story my words. What would they give you in return? They would not print the story of -- print Beth's story. Accuser Beth Ferrier says her story was dropped from publication in the magazine after Cosby issued his one and only interview on the Constand and Tamara Green accusations, while not commenting on Ferrier's story American media who publishes the National Enquirer tells CNN, "The National Enquirer, more than any other publication, was unflinching in our aggressive coverage of allegations against Mr. Cosby beginning in 2000 when everyone else avoided the story." E- mails and calls to Cosby's attorney, Marty Singer, for the story have not been returned. Jean Casarez, CNN New York.</s>BANFIELD: And one, know as well on that story that while Mark Whitaker didn't bring up the Cosby allegations when he appeared on CNN before the scandal broke, he also was not asked by CNN about those accusations either. And of course, another big reason why the Bill Cosby scandal hasn't been at the forefront may be the pressure is on these alleged victims to remain silent, whatever the pressures are. This morning on CNN's New Day, Jewel Allison explains why it was difficult for her to come forward because she didn't want to take down a man that has meant so much to the black community.</s>ALLISON: For me, being a woman of color, the pain is perhaps magnified because part of my not wanting to come out and say anything was, "Oh my God, I don't want to destroy the positive images that were created in such a wonderful way on television for black people."</s>BANFIELD: So, Miss Allison is among 17 who have now claimed that Bill Cosby sexually assaulted them. And the question looming over the scandal is whether Bill Cosby will do anything about it. Will he fight the allegations that are being made against him? He is barely saying a word otherwise. And joining me to talk about Cosby's legal options is CNN legal analyst Sunny Hostin. Why wouldn't Bill Cosby sue all 17 for defamation if he's innocent?</s>SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yeah. I'm asking the question a lot of people have been asking, but to show defamation, approved defamation, you have to prove that the allegations are false. So truth is on your side. The question is what is the truth? Are all 17 women defaming him? Are all of them lying about him? And that's a pretty big hurdle. I got to tell you, you know, when you have a defamation case with one voice, a soloist, that's one thing, when you have a defamation case with a choir, with a chorus of voices, that's another thing. So I suspect that is why we're not hearing from Bill Cosby. But I along with others have said, if these allegations are false, as your attorney has alluded then sue...</s>BANFIELD: Do something.</s>HOSTIN: ... for defamation.</s>BANFIELD: Do something about it.</s>HOSTIN: Because no answer, because he's been so very...</s>BANFIELD: Yeah.</s>HOSTIN: ... silent, Ashley, no answer kind of it as answer.</s>BANFIELD: What about the notion that Janice Dickinson now says she is livid that she's being called a liar, could she then turn around and sue Bill Cosby's representatives on behalf of Bill Cosby calling her a liar because she said she is suffering in the public and she's a public figure. And if she loses any money over this, that's classic defamation.</s>HOSTIN: Yeah. She certainly could. And I do want to mention that when you have a public figure, the standard is a little bit higher, so you have to prove actual malice, you have to prove that you knew it wasn't true. And yet, you know, with malice, you said it anyway. And so, Bill Cosby, if he sued the women for defamation, has a pretty high standard, because he's a public person. And if Janice Dickinson wanted to sue Bill Cosby, her standard would be a little bit higher as well.</s>BANFIELD: Higher as well. But if Bill Cosby wanted to sue the other 16 who were not public figures and it doesn't count that they're public figures now because this is the event.</s>HOSTIN: Well, he's the public figure.</s>BANFIELD: It would relatively easier for him.</s>HOSTIN: No, not really. I think he's...</s>BANFIELD: Because he doesn't have to prove malice on their part...</s>HOSTIN: He's the public figure.</s>BANFIELD: They're not public figures.</s>HOSTIN: Well, no, he does -- he would have to prove. The malice is about the public person. So if you're the public person and you've been defamed, Ashley, then you are the person that has sort of the actual malice standard. Remember, he would be bringing the suit. So it wouldn't be easy. But again, everyone is saying, if all of these women are not being truthful which -- I've got to tell you again that, you know, in my experience, women telling pretty much the same story over and over and over again have nothing to gain...</s>BANFIELD: If you had it backwards, I think...</s>HOSTIN: ... some kind of change.</s>BANFIELD: ... if the women wanted to sue him for any kind of defamation since they're not public figures, they'd have an easier case against them.</s>HOSTIN: That's right.</s>BANFIELD: Yeah.</s>HOSTIN: That's right.</s>BANFIELD: Well, we'll watch to see if any of that happens because why be silent if you're innocent.</s>HOSTIN: Right.</s>BANFIELD: Why not taking on, you know...</s>HOSTIN: Ask the question.</s>BANFIELD: ... (inaudible), right? All right. Sunny Hostin, thank you for that, appreciate it. Another grand jury is now being closely watched, and this time it is in New York. Eric Garner died after police officers put him in a chokehold without the details of the case. And here's something else, there's video which might make a big difference in this incident.