Camille Cosby: Bill is ‘the man you knew’

Bill Cosby’s wife rejected sex assault allegations against her husband of a half-century on Monday, saying the man being accused by at least 15 women of drugging and having sex with them is “a man I do not know.” In a statement issued Monday, Camille Cosby dismissed accusations that date back as far as the late 1960s.

She suggested that her husband, not the women, is the party being harmed.

“None of us will ever want to be in the position of attacking a victim,” she said. “But the question should be asked: Who is the victim?”

Cosby is being sued for defamation by one alleged victim and for sexual battery by another woman who says he forced her to perform a sex act when she was 15. He has never been charged criminally in connection with any of the accusations, and his lawyers deny many of the allegations. He settled with a Pennsylvania woman who in a 2005 lawsuit said Cosby drugged and molested her in 2004.

A new round of claims of sexual assault and rape began in early November – accusations Camille Cosby said haven’t been properly vetted by the media. She likened the media’s handling of the accusations to a Rolling Stone article about a gang rape at the University of Virginia that later proved to be untrue, saying her husband’s accusers have been “given a pass” by the media.

“The (Rolling Stone) story was heartbreaking, but ultimately appears to be proved to be untrue. Many in the media were quick to link that story to stories about my husband – until that story unwound,” she said.

Noting that she married Cosby in 1964, a year after they met, she said, “The man I met, and fell in love with, and whom I continue to love, is the man you all knew through his work. He is a kind man, a generous man, a funny man, and a wonderful husband, father and friend. He is the man you thought you knew.”

The statement is the first public comment from Camille Cosby since the renewed allegations began.

‘Theory’ star Redmayne ties the knot

Eddie Redmayne is celebrating more than his best-actor nominations this week. “The Theory of Everything” star is also a newlywed.

A spokeswoman for Redmayne said the actor married his girlfriend, Hannah Bagshawe, in a private ceremony Monday in England.

The 32-year-old Redmayne is generating big awards buzz for his turn as Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything” and has already garnered nominations from the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

The birthday bunch

Actress Liv Ullmann is 76. Pop singer Benny Andersson (ABBA) is 68. Actor Ben Cross is 67. Rock singer-musician Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) is 65. Actor Benjamin Bratt is 51. Actor-comedian JB Smoove is 49. Actress Krysten Ritter is 33. Actress Zoe Jarman (TV: “The Mindy Project”) is 32. Country musician Chris Scruggs is 32. Actress Amanda Setton is 29. Actress Anna Popplewell is 26.