Bill Cosby Is Suing 7 Of His Accusers For Damaging His Reputation

Bill Cosby is taking action against his accusers. TIME reports that Cosby is suing seven of his accusers. Nearly 60 women have accused Cosby of sexually assaulting them or simply drugging them. In statements posted to Twitter Monday, Cosby's lawyer, Monique Pressle, said:

Suing all seven counterclaim defendants of the Green lawsuit for defamation per se, defamation, tortious interference and intentional infliction of emotional distress, Mr. Cosby states plainly that he neither drugged nor sexually assaulted the defendants and that each defendant has maliciously and knowingly published multiple false statements and accusations from Fall 2014 through the current day in an effort to cause damage to Mr. Cosby’s reputation and to extract financial gains.

The statement goes on to say that the women made “old, false, uncorroborated, opportunistic allegations of sexual assault” that led to “substantial injuries and damages to reputation.” Cosby is seeking maximum “compensatory and punitive damages” in addition to public retractions and corrections of “their defamatory statements”.

Romper's request for comment from Cosby's publicist was not immediately returned.

According to USA Today, Cosby's countersuit targets "Tamara Green, Therese Serignese, Linda Traitz, Louisa Moritz, Barbara Bowman, Joan Tarshis and Angela Leslie." All six women are suing for defamation.

Joseph Cammarata, the attorney representing the women in the countersuit, says that he is not surprised by the action Cosby is taking against his clients and feels it is “retaliatory.” He claimed Cosby “singled out seven” women of the almost 60 who’ve accused the comedian of wrongdoing. USA Today reports that the statute of limitations is up for most of the incidents.

When some allegations emerged in 2014, Cosby declined to comment. But with the countersuit, he's commenting in a big way.

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