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Camille Cosby: Bill’s Legal Troubles Are Taking A Toll But She Is Determined To Stand By Her Man

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 08:16 PST, Jun 1, 2016

A Pennsylvania District judge recently ruled that Bill Cosby will have to stand trial for the sexual assault charges levied against him, and the intense legal battle has been taking a heavy toll on his wife. Camille Cosby’s support for her husband has been unwavering as the famed comedian has dealt with one sexual assault allegation after the other in the last two years. Her support, however, is coming at a large personal cost, reports People.

Camille Cosby, 71, has been married to Bill for over 50 years. Unfortunately for her, since the first allegations of sexual misconduct were levied against Bill, at least that many women have come forward to allege that the comedian had sexually assaulted and/or attempted to drug them. According to alleged victims, Bill Cosby’s pattern of sexual misconduct has been going on for decades. Camille has been forced to listen to every detail of all of the allegations against her husband of more than half a century, and she was even forced to give a deposition related to the sexual assault charges.

A source close to the Cosby family has come forward to detail how difficult the ordeal has been for Camille Cosby.

“Of course it’s very painful for Camille to go through this.”

The allegations of sexual abuse have continued to grow, with more and more women coming forward to say they were subjected to sexual assault at his hands. The allegations resulted in civil suits between Cosby and his accusers. In at least one of the cases, Bill settled financially with an accuser. He then turned the tables and filed a defamation suit against her when she went public with her claims against him (apparently their settlement included a gag order).

However, that defamation suit has been postponed until Bill and Camille Cosby make it through the pending criminal case against him. If Cosby is unable to convince a jury of his innocence, he could be facing serious prison time.

In a comprehensive article, Vulture chronicles the timeline of abuse allegations against Bill Cosby.

According to the Cosby source who spoke to People, the pending civil and criminal cases have weathered Bill Cosby’s normally upbeat personality, inflicting a physical and psychological toll on the once-beloved comedian.

“He doesn’t have his life anymore. He has not lost his sense of humor and he has not become morose. But he is somber and there’s been a physical toll – his walking is halting and he can seem downtrodden.”

Because Camille Cosby has reportedly taken her job as Bill’s support system seriously, both publicly and in private, the situation is eating away at her, too. However, she has no intention of leaving Bill hanging during this trying time.

“They have been married for over 50 years and she loves him… For both of them, it’s a nightmare every day.”

The Cosby’s living nightmare won’t be coming to an end anytime soon, either.

The Pennsylvania judge’s May 24 ruling heralded the beginning of fresh legal troubles for Cosby. Before the ruling, Cosby’s legal troubles had been primarily civil. Now that he’s officially facing a trial based on the allegations that he drugged and sexually assaulted 43-year-old Andrea Constand back in 2004, Camille Cosby can expect the legal troubles to stretch out for years.

Both Bill and Camille Cosby have steadfastly disputed the sexual assault allegations against Bill, as has his legal defense team. However, denials get less and less convincing as more women come forward with their own stories, and Bill Cosby is already being tried in the court of public opinion.

Cosby’s reputation took a further beating on May 20, when startling new revelations were made public for the first time. It was then that a federal judge unsealed the Cosby deposition related to Constand’s civil suit — the same lawsuit that Cosby settled behind closed doors back in 2006.

According to the depositions, Bill Cosby admitted to giving quaaludes to multiple women as well as having sex with at least two girls who were only in their teens.

Camille is standing by her man, but her support is being construed by many as approval of terrible and disrespectful treatment by her husband.

So far, Constand’s sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby are the only ones that have resulted in criminal charges against the comedian. He is, however, being sued for defamation by seven women who he accused of lying about being victimized at his hands. The deposition unsealed on May 20 will be used in that case.

According to People’s source, Bill and Camille Cosby are trying to live a low-key life in the interim, staying out of the public eye as much as possible. Even though that means that Bill Cosby (who has been blacklisted in Hollywood and by television networks and streaming service providers) has had to cut one of his favorite pastimes out of his life. At least for now.

“One of his greatest joys is performing and he can’t do that or play an arena anymore. That’s been taken away from him.”

Few people have much sympathy for Bill Cosby’s current mental state, though.

What do you think? Is Camille Cosby doing the right thing by standing by Bill?

[Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for NAACP]

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