Bill Cosby’s wife was scheduled on Monday to face lawyers for seven women who have accused the comedian of sexual assault after a federal judge in Massachusetts batted back an effort by her attorneys to stop the deposition in the defamation lawsuit.
Lawyers for Camille Cosby, who has been married to the entertainer for 52 years, had filed a weekend motion in U.S. District Court in Springfield to spare their client from appearing at the deposition, which will not be public. They said it would create a “media circus” at the Springfield Marriott hotel, where the deposition is to be held, and threaten her safety.
The lawsuit says Bill Cosby defamed the women when he accused them of lying about the alleged sex assaults.
During a brief hearing on Monday before the deposition, U.S. District Judge Mark Mastroianni again rejected Camille Cosby’s request.
Mastroianni ruled earlier this month that Camille Cosby would have to talk to lawyers bringing the defamation lawsuit against her husband, although she could not be compelled to reveal private conversations with him.
More than 50 women have publicly accused Bill Cosby, who is best known for his role as the father in the 1980s television hit “The Cosby Show,” of raping them, often after plying them with alcohol or drugs, in incidents dating back decades.
Most of the alleged crimes date too far back to be prosecuted. But just days before the statute of limitations was to expire, Pennsylvania officials late last year charged Cosby with sexually assaulting a woman in 2005.
Cosby, 78, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, but a Pennsylvania judge early this month rejected his request to dismiss the charges.
Tamara Green filed the Massachusetts lawsuit in December 2014. She was later joined by six other women who say Cosby sexually assaulted or abused them and defamed them by calling them liars.
