January 11, 2018
Bill Cosby, the Philadelphia-born comedian accused of sexual assault or misconduct by more than 50 women, returned to the city Wednesday for a meal at an Italian restaurant that turned into a bizarre media affair.
Reporters at the Inquirer were told that Cosby, 80, was going to dinner with a friend at Ristorante La Veranda in Old City.
Cosby is scheduled to go back to court for accusations he drugged and molested former Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his Cheltenham home in 2004, the only one of several civil lawsuits from his accusers to go to trial.
The case was a declared a mistrial in June, but a new trial has been scheduled for April.
Amid some awkward back and forth with the media, one reporter did ask Cosby about the upcoming trial, to which he replied, "We’re ready." Cosby also made a head-scratching reference to the #MeToo movement, which has been documenting women's stories of sexual assault and harassment in the wake of several other high-profile men being accused of inappropriate behavior.
Per the Inquirer:
As he noshed on pasta Wednesday, Cosby’s legal problems appeared far from his mind, until he shook a reporter’s hand — and made a request.
“Please,” he said, “don’t put me on MeToo.”
You can read more from the Inquirer here.
