Bill Cosby is back in headlines again, and this time it’s tied to newly surfaced legal testimony that has reignited questions about his conduct decades after his high-profile trials and convictions.
According to newly obtained documents from a deposition linked to a civil lawsuit filed by accuser Donna Motsinger, the 88-year-old entertainer admitted under oath that he obtained seven prescriptions for the sedative Quaaludes from a gynecologist in the 1970s with the stated intention of giving the pills to women before sexual encounters. Cosby maintained in his testimony that he never personally took the drugs himself.
The revelation comes in a lawsuit brought by Motsinger, who alleges Cosby drugged and raped her in 1972 when she was working as a server at a restaurant in Sausalito, California. Court documents reportedly describe Cosby refilling what TMZ calls a “recreational prescription” for Quaaludes at poker games at his Los Angeles home years before.
Popular in the 1960s and 1970s, Quaaludes were later classified as a Schedule I controlled substance and taken off the U.S. market due to their abuse potential.
In past litigation, attorneys for Cosby have argued that no unsealed testimony explicitly states that he drugged anyone without their knowledge or consent. Civil filings in related cases have highlighted disputes over the meaning and release of older deposition transcripts.
This latest development digs into historical allegations that have followed Cosby for years and highlights ongoing tension between public memory and legal accountability, particularly in cases involving powerful men and sexual misconduct claims.
As this lawsuit continues to unfold, more attention is likely to return to how these decades-old claims intersect with contemporary conversations about consent, accountability, and the justice system’s response to allegations of drug-facilitated assault.
