Tuesday, December 15, 2015
NEWSMAKERS
Cosby countersues 7 women in US court
BOSTON
Bill Cosby fired back Monday at seven women who are suing him for defamation, accusing them of making false accusations of sexual misconduct for financial gain.
In a countersuit filed in federal court, Cosby alleges the women made “malicious, opportunistic, and false and defamatory accusations” against him. Cosby is seeking monetary damages “to the maximum extent permitted by law.”
The women have claimed Cosby defamed them by allowing his representatives to brand them as liars after they went public with allegations of rape and other sexual misconduct dating back decades.
The women suing Cosby in U.S. District Court in Springfield are among approximately 50 who have come forward with allegations of rape or unwanted sexual contact over the last year. Cosby has a home in Shelburne in western Massachusetts.
Josh Groban to make Broadway debut
NEW YORK
Pop star Josh Groban will be making his Broadway debut next year in a musical inspired by an unlikely writer – Leo Tolstoy.
Groban will play Pierre in “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812,” a musical by Dave Malloy that dramatizes a 70-page melodrama at the center of “War and Peace.”
The sung-through musical premiered at New York City’s Ars Nova in 2012 and currently is playing at the American Repertory Theater at Harvard University.
Rachel Chavkin will direct. Additional casting, design team and theater will be announced later.
Associated Press