The Bill Cosby defense is now the Bill Cosby offense.
Virginia Roberts is suing British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell – whom she accuses of pimping her out as a teen “sex slave” to sleazy billionaire Jeffrey Epstein – for defamation because the media heiress called the allegations “obvious lies.”
Will you offer us a hand? Every gift, regardless of size, fuels our future.
Your critical contribution enables us to maintain our independence from shareholders or wealthy owners, allowing us to keep up reporting without bias. It means we can continue to make Jewish Business News available to everyone.
You can support us for as little as $1 via PayPal at [email protected].
Thank you.
Lawyers for Roberts, 23, who now goes by her married name Giuffre, recently used a Cosby defense to argue the defamation case should be allowed to continue because an accuser of the fallen funnyman was able to proceed with a similar lawsuit.
A judge threw out Cosby accuser Renita Hill’s claim, filed in Pennsylvania federal court, on Jan. 21 – and Maxwell’s lawyers are using the judge’s legal reasoning to bolster their arguments for dismissal.
Cosby had described Hill’s allegations against him as “unsubstantiated, fantastical stories … (that) have escalated far past the point of absurdity.”
The judge in Hill’s case viewed Cosby’s denials as protected “opinionated speech” and a “legal position” – but did not think they implied that Hill is a “liar and an extortionist, ” Maxwell’s lawyers claim.
Sigrid McCawley, who’s representing Giuffre, counters the Maxwell’s statements did lead to inferences that the alleged sex trafficking victim was a ‘”liar and an extortionist.’”
“In vivid contrast, Maxwell called Ms. Giuffre’s assertions of sexual abuse ‘obvious lies, “’ McCawley argues in a recent Manhattan federal court filing.
“It is axiomatic that a person telling ‘obvious lies’ is a liar, and, therefore, the reasoning employed by the Hill court is inapplicable to the statements made by Maxwell.”
Giuffre claims Maxwell lured her into working as a “masseuse” for Epstein in 1999. She alleges that Maxwell and Epstein forced her into sex with “powerful men, ” such as Britain’s Prince Andrew.
Giuffre says she fled the country as a teen to escape Epstein.
The investment manager spent a year and a half in prison after copping to a state charge of soliciting a 14-year-old prostitute in June 2008.
This story was first published at Daily New SX, by Daniel McDonald
