Bill Cosby Defamation Lawsuit Dropped by Accuser

Kristina Ruehli claimed she was branded as a liar when she came forward with her accusations against comedian

Bill Cosby

Bill Cosby is kicking off the weekend with a bit of good news for once.

A defamation lawsuit brought against the scandal-plagued comedian by one of his many accusers was dropped Friday, according to court papers obtained by TheWrap.

The papers indicate that the lawsuit brought by Kristina Ruehli has been voluntarily dismissed without prejudice, meaning she can refile at a later date.

Ruehli filed her lawsuit in November 2015, claiming that Cosby tried to rape her in 1965, when she was 22.

She claimed that Cosby came into the agency where she was working as a secretary and invited her to a party at his home. But she arrived at the party to find a “nearly empty” house. According to Ruehli, Cosby gave her a couple of drinks, after which she passed out. When she came to, she found herself naked in bed with Cosby, who “had his penis in her face, his hand on the back of her head. He was attempting to place his penis in her mouth and force her to give him oral sex.”

However, Ruehli — one of the “Jane Does” listed in former Temple University employee Andrea Constand’s 2005 lawsuit against Cosby — actually sued for what she said happened after she came forward with her accusations late last year. According to Ruehli, Cosby’s then-attorney, Martin Singer, issued a statement reading, in part, “Over and over again, we have refuted these new unsubstantiated stories with documentary evidence, only to have a new uncorroborated story crop up out of the woodwork. When will it end?”

The dismissal of the case comes just a day after a court shot down Cosby’s request to dismiss the case. However, her attorney told TheWrap that, with Cosby now facing criminal prosecution and Ruehli’s friend testifying under oath that she did not make up her story and told her friend about it shortly afterward, Ruehli is currently happy to watch the pending cases unfold in solidarity with the other Cosby accusers.

“The notion this is a victory or validation of Mr. Cosby or Mr. Singer’s statement is simply false,” Ruehli’s attorney told TheWrap. “The Court ruled the statement is actionable.  She stands by her account. Her decision has nothing to do with the merits of the case.”

Attorneys for Cosby in the matter, naturally, saw things differently.

“This is now the second of these defamation cases that has been dismissed, either by a Court or by a party. We hope and expect that there will be more, and we look forward to fighting any that are not dismissed, before a jury of our peers,” Cosby’s lawyers said in a statement to TheWrap. “For those in the media who accepted every allegation raised without question or evaluation, they need to answer the well-known question with respect to Mr. Cosby, ‘Which office do I go to get my reputation back?’”

Cosby has been accused of rape or sexual assault by dozens of women, many of whom claim he drugged them beforehand. The comedian has been hit with multiple lawsuits, as well as the criminal charges in Pennsylvania.

The former “Cosby Show” star has denied the allegations and in some cases sued his accusers.

Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.

Comments