Disney World takes down Cosby statue

Bill Cosby speaks at the National Action Network's 20th annual Keepers of the Dream Awards gala...
Bill Cosby speaks at the National Action Network's 20th annual Keepers of the Dream Awards gala in New York in April 2011. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/Files
A bronze bust of beleaguered comedian Bill Cosby has been removed from the Walt Disney World theme park in Florida, a Disney spokeswoman says.

The spokeswoman said the bust, part of an outdoor exhibit at Disney's Hollywood Studios park in Orlando that honors members of the Television Academy Hall of Fame, was taken away after the park closed on Tuesday (local time).

Disney gave no reason for the removal but it came a day after the unsealing of testimony in a 2005 sexual assault civil case in which Cosby said he had obtained Quaalude sedatives with the intent of giving them to young women with whom he wanted to have sex.

Some 40 women have come forward in the past year to accuse the once beloved star of TV comedy series "The Cosby Show" of drugging and sexually assaulting them in incidents dating back decades.

Cosby, 77, has not been criminally charged and his attorneys have consistently denied the allegations. However, his career has taken a hit with TV projects and live shows being canceled.

Busts remaining in the Hollywood Studios exhibit include those of entertainers Lucille Ball, Oprah Winfrey, Bob Newhart, Dick Clark, Andy Griffith and Walt Disney.

Meanwhile, a Canadian woman at the centr of sexual assault allegations against Cosby has accused him of violating a confidentiality agreement in their 2005 lawsuit, and asked a court to make public his entire testimony.

Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee, filed court papers in Pennsylvania district court, also accusing Cosby and his advisers of manipulating the media through interviews and statements about the slew of sex assault allegations against him.

The lawsuit was filed two days after a Pennsylvania judge unsealed testimony in Constand's 2005 civil lawsuit against Cosby, in which the actor said he had obtained Quaaludes with the intent of giving the sedatives to young women in order to have sex with them.

The case was settled in 2006 for an undisclosed sum and both Cosby and Constand signed confidentiality agreements. In the past year some 40 other women have come forward accusing the star of TV comedy series "The Cosby Show" of drugging and sexually assaulting them in incidents dating back decades.

Constand said in Wednesday's court filing that Cosby was questioned about other sexual allegations at the time and that the women involved had a right to hear what he said about them then and "a right to determine what if anything can be used as evidence in their respective cases."

Constand, a former basketball player from Toronto, asked the court to have Cosby's "entire deposition and settlement agreement released to the public."

She said that while she has remained silent, "Cosby himself has given a rather incoherent interview and used members of his family and others as surrogates to speak for him."

Cosby has never been criminally charged, and most of the allegations exceed the statute of limitations. His attorneys have consistently denied the accusations. They could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday.

A spokeswoman for the Creative Artists Agency said on Wednesday the firm had parted ways with Cosby months ago, but she declined to say why.

Cosby has said little directly about the accusations, but he told the audience at one of his shows in Florida last year that he would not reply to "innuendos."