Bill Cosby’s Insurance Company Wants Accusers’ Lawsuit Put on Hold

Firm says it’s been footing the bill for comedian’s defense even though it’s not covered by his policy

MELBOURNE, FL - NOVEMBER 21: Actor Bill Cosby performs at the King Center for the Performing Arts on November 21, 2014 in Melbourne, Florida. (Photo by Gerardo Mora/Getty Images)
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Bill Cosby‘s insurance company is hoping to do something that the embattled comedian has failed to do: Put the brakes on a lawsuit brought by three of Cosby’s accusers.

A little more than two weeks after Cosby’s legal team lost a bid to block a lawsuit filed by  Tamara Green, Linda Traitz  and Therese Serignese, the comedian’s insurers have filed their own legal papers seeking to put the case on hold.

Legal papers filed in federal court in Massachusetts on Tuesday and obtained by TheWrap, show the AIG Property Casualty Company claims that Cosby’s policy doesn’t cover the liability he’s currently facing in the lawsuit — but they’ve nonetheless been funding Cosby’s legal defense “at a considerable cost.”

AIG is asking that a stay be put on the litigation, pending a court declaration of whether the insurance company has a duty to help defend the comedian.

According to a court filing from the insurance company, Cosby has retained lawyers for two law firms to represent him in the matter, and even in the early stages of the suit, the bills are stacking up.

“The cost of this defense is considerable, and Mr. Cosby has yet to even answer the amended complaint,” AIG’s filing reads.

Green, Traitz and Serignese are suing Cosby for defamation, claiming that he defamed them by denying their claims that he had sexually assaulted them through his representatives, including the comedian’s lawyer, Martin Singer, with whom Cosby severed ties last week.

In the last year, the comedian has been accused of rape or sexual assault by dozens of women, many of whom claimed that he had drugged them beforehand.

Cosby faces multiple lawsuits filed by accusers, and earlier this month was deposed in relation to a lawsuit filed by Judy Huth, who claims that the TV legend sexually molested her at the Playboy Mansion in 1974, when she was 15.

Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.


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