Bill Cosby will organize a series of town hall meetings to help educate young people about problems their misbehavior could create and other issues, a spokesman for Cosby said.
Cosby is eager to get back to work following a deadlocked jury and mistrial in his sexual assault case, spokesman Andrew Wyatt told Birmingham, Alabama, TV station WBRC on Wednesday.
“We’ll talk to young people. Because this is bigger than Bill Cosby. You know, this, this issue can affect any young person, especially young athletes of today,” Wyatt said. “And they need to know what they’re facing when they’re hanging out and partying, when they’re doing certain things they shouldn’t be doing.
Cosby spokesperson Ebonee Benson says the media have misreported the intent of the town halls, telling CNN they are not about sexual assault, as has been widely reported.
In the Birmingham interview Wyatt said:
“This is bigger than Bill Cosby. This issue can affect any young person especially the athletes of today. They need to know what they’re facing when they’re hanging out and partying, and doing certain things they shouldn’t be doing.“
Prosecutors have said Cosby will be retried on sexual assault charges stemming from former Temple University worker Andrea Constand’s allegations that Cosby drugged and molested her in 2004. Cosby contends the encounter was consensual.
The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, an anti-sexual violence organization known as RAINN, responded to Cosby’s announced plans.
“It would be more useful if Mr. Cosby would spend time talking with people about how not to commit sexual assault in the first place,” RAINN spokeswoman Jodi Omear said in a statement.
In a statement Thursday to The Associated Press, Wyatt expanded on his remarks. He said that many civic organizations and churches have called asking that Cosby speak to young men and women about the judicial system and how it can be used for “personal agenda and political ambitions.”
“They feel that the young men and women need to be aware that Mr. Cosby was given a deal to never be criminally charged” in the Andrea Constand case, he said.
A town hall will be held in Birmingham in July, Wyatt said. He didn’t identify the date or location or any other cities that will be visited.
