People: Lawyer says Cosby won’t address abuse claims
Bill Cosby will not dignify “decade-old, discredited” claims of sexual abuse with a response, his attorney said Sunday, the first comment from the famed comedian’s lawyer on an increasing uproar over allegations that he assaulted several women in the past.
In a statement released to the Associated Press and posted online, lawyer John P. Schmitt said the fact that the allegations are being repeated “does not make them true.”
“He would like to thank all his fans for the outpouring of support and assure them that, at age 77, he is doing his best work,” Schmitt said.
One of Cosby’s accusers, Barbara Bowman, leveled allegations of sexual assault against him in interviews and in an online column for the Washington Post. Bowman wrote that in 1985, she was 17 and an aspiring actress when Cosby “brainwashed me into viewing him as a father figure, and then assaulted me multiple times.” Cosby, who was never criminally charged in any case, settled a civil suit in 2006 with another woman over an alleged incident two years before.
Solange Knowles weds video director
Solange Knowles’ is known for her fashion as much as her music, and her weekend wedding did not disappoint.
The 28-year-old singer (and sister of Beyonce) wed video director Alan Ferguson, 51, over the weekend, her publicist confirmed on Sunday. The bride and groom both wore ivory, and the color scheme also was worn by key attendees, including the bride’s mother Tina, brother-in-law Jay Z and niece Blue Ivy.
This is the second marriage for Knowles, who has a 10-year-old son Daniel. She told Vogue that the nuptials, in New Orleans, were a labor of love.
Dempsey awarded for cancer care
Maine-born actor Patrick Dempsey returned home to accept an award for his work helping cancer patients.
Dempsey – most famous for his role as Dr. Derek Shepherd in the TV series “Grey’s Anatomy” – and the Jackson Laboratory were awarded the Maine Creative Industries Award on Saturday in Portland.
Forty-eight-year-old Dempsey was inspired by his mother’s battle with ovarian cancer to help found the Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. His mother, Amanda Dempsey, died in March. The Jackson Lab is a genetics research facility in Bar Harbor.
The birthday bunch
Singer Gordon Lightfoot is 76. Movie director Martin Scorsese is 72. Actress Lauren Hutton is 71. Actor-director Danny DeVito is 70. “Saturday Night Live” producer Lorne Michaels is 70. Movie director Roland Joffe is 69. House Speaker John Boehner is 65. Actor Stephen Root is 63. Actress Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is 56. Entertainer RuPaul is 54. Actress Rachel McAdams is 36. Rock musician Isaac Hanson (Hanson) is 34.