Bill Cosby will not be deposed this month in a defamation lawsuit filed by model Janice Dickinson, after all.
The stand-up comic and accused rapist was granted a temporary halt on having to give sworn testimony by a California appeals court on Thursday. The depositions were previously ordered to occur this month by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Nov. 2.
However, Cosby’s attorneys appealed, and the appellate court demanded that legal briefs filed by the end of the month — so any deposition is temporarily on hold, the Associated Press reported. The wire’s email message to Cosby’s lawyers was not immediately returned, it said.
“We are confident that once the Court of Appeals hears full argument on the issues it will allow the deposition of Mr. Cosby and his attorney to go forward,” Dickinson’s attorney Lisa Bloom wrote the AP in an email.
Dickinson is suing Cosby for defamation over denials of her claims that she was drugged and raped by the comedian and ex-TV star in 1982. Cosby’s lawyers want the case dismissed, but a judge ordered the depositions — an allowance for Dickinson’s lawyers to oppose the motion.
The model and reality star had sued Cosby in May, claiming she has been re-victimized and her reputation has suffered because of pointed denials by Cosby’s now ex-attorney, Martin Singer. She alleged that Cosby drugged and raped her in a Lake Tahoe, California, hotel room more than three decades ago.
Dickinson never reported the rape to authorities, saying she feared damage to her career and a Cosby retaliation.