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Bill Cosby fights to maintain confidentiality of court records

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Press Trust of India Los Angeles
Troubled comedian Bill Cosby is trying to keep court records relating to an old sexual abuse lawsuit sealed.

The 77-year-old comedian told a Pennsylvania judge that he's not a public figure and there was "no legitimate public interest" in the sex abuse suit brought by Andrea Constand in 2006, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Cosby said confidentiality must be maintained on the court records described as posing a "real, specific threat of serious embarrassment."

The court records not only include details about the sexual abuse allegations but also issues relating to the comedian's health, use of prescription drugs, financial affairs and personal relationships.
 

Cosby's lawyer George Gowen argued in court that there was no public right to access discovery motions and his client's privacy would be hurt by the unsealing.

"Moreover, unlike a deposition in a typical case, there is a voracious media appetite for Defendant's deposition, and public release of it would quickly become widespread public knowledge of it," the comedian's brief stated.

"There is no doubt that public disclosure of the motions and Defendant's sworn deposition testimony, which delves into the most intimate subjects imaginable, would generate a firestorm of publicity.

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First Published: Jun 26 2015 | 1:13 PM IST

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