Bill Cosby drops litigation against accuser in sex assault case

PHILADELPHIA – Bill Cosby has dropped a lawsuit that argued a confidential settlement agreement was violated by a woman accusing him of sexual assault.

Cosby’s lawsuit also had accused the woman’s two lawyers and the publisher of the National Enquirer. His lawyers filed a one-sentence document Thursday voluntarily dismissing the litigation.

A federal judge in the case ruled recently the defendants couldn’t be sued for talking to law enforcement about the woman’s allegations. The judge had left in place issues about the accuser’s tweets in 2014 and 2015 and an interview she gave the Toronto Sun.

Cosby awaits an assault trial outside Philadelphia over a 2004 encounter he considers to have been consensual. Prosecutors say the woman was drugged and assaulted.

Cosby paid her an undisclosed amount of money two years later. His lawyers haven’t responded to a phone message seeking comment.