Cosby Lawyers Got National Enquirer to Drop 2005 Story

Instead, the tabloid ran a softer interview with him
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 21, 2014 2:45 PM CST
Cosby Lawyers Got National Enquirer to Drop 2005 Story
In this Nov. 6, 2014, file photo, entertainer Bill Cosby pauses during a news conference.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

The Bill Cosby mess might have gotten an airing nearly a decade ago had the National Enquirer not been swayed by the celeb's lawyers, reports the Guardian. The tabloid was all set to run an interview with accuser Beth Ferrier when Cosby's legal team got wind of it and threatened to sue. The tabloid reportedly provided Cosby's lawyers with a copy of the unpublished story, and the two sides struck a deal. The Enquirer killed the story and replaced it with a soft interview with Cosby in which he rebutted the allegations that were just beginning to surface. Robin Mizrahi, the reporter who interviewed Ferrier, is no longer with the Enquirer, but she tells the Guardian that Ferrier's story seemed air-tight.

“She passed the polygraph test with flying colors,” Mizrahi says. “She had a very, very detailed description of what allegedly happened, which I still remember because it was so haunting. She said Cosby had stood over her and then she fell asleep because there was something in her coffee.” Of course, it may not have made much of a difference had the Enquirer printed the piece: Ferrier soon gave an interview to the Philadelphia Daily News, but the story got nowhere near the national traction as the current one. At the Daily Beast, Mark Ebner writes that Cosby's money and lawyers have "vanquished" several lawsuits over the years. (Casinos are the latest to cut ties with Cosby.)

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