*Bill Cosby plans to hit the road in 2023 with a tour that is expected to kick off in the spring or summer.
Cosby, 85, is ready to “be the Bill Cosby that my audience knows me to be,” he said during a recent interview with Scott Spears on “WGH Talk,” Variety reports.
Cosby served three years in prison after being convicted in Pennsylvania in April 2018 of criminal sexual assault. He was released in 2021 after the state Supreme Court overturned his conviction. We reported previously, via CNN, that Cosby is now facing a new lawsuit filed by five women accusing him of sexual assault and abuse dating back decades.
Two of the alleged victims are former actresses on “The Cosby Show.” The 34-page lawsuit, per CNN, is brought by the actresses Lili Bernard and Eden Tirl as well as Jewel Gittens, Jennifer Thompson and Cindra Ladd. The suit names as defendants Cosby and the media companies NBCUniversal Media, Kaufman Astoria Studios and The Carsey-Werner Company, which together ran “The Cosby Show” from 1984 to 1992.
READ MORE: 5 Women Sue Bill Cosby for Sexual Assault and Abuse Under New NY Lookback Law | VIDEO
The suit accuses Cosby of assault, battery, infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment and accuses the media companies of negligence.
Cosby’s rep, Andrew Wyatt, called the lawsuit “frivolous”.
“When I come out of this, I feel that I will be able to perform and be the Bill Cosby that my audience knows me to be,” Cosby told Spears.
When asked if the plans to go on tour next year, Cosby responded, “Yes. Yes, because there’s so much fun to be had in this storytelling that I do. Years ago, maybe 10 years ago, I found it was better to say it after I write it.”
Wyatt confirmed to Variety that the comedian is “looking at spring/summer to start touring.”
