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Bill Cosby Files New Appeal over Sexual Assault Conviction

Bill Cosby. (AFP)
Bill Cosby. (AFP)
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Bill Cosby Files New Appeal over Sexual Assault Conviction

Bill Cosby. (AFP)
Bill Cosby. (AFP)

US comedian Bill Cosby, who is serving three and a half years in jail, has filed a new appeal against his conviction for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman 15 years ago.

In court documents filed Tuesday with Pennsylvania's Supreme Court, Cosby's lawyers argue that five women should not have been allowed to give evidence at his trial as witnesses.

They say that their "decades-old" allegations, which were not part of the charges, had prejudiced the jury.

The attorneys also argue it was "fundamentally unfair" that deposition testimony Cosby gave in a civil case regarding his use of sedative drugs and his sexual behaviors in the 1970s was heard in court.

They argue that Cosby believed the testimony was immune from prosecution when he gave it.

The 83-year-old actor shattered racial barriers with his Emmy-winning role on "I Spy" in the 1960s, and then as a dad and doctor on the hit TV series "The Cosby Show" two decades later.

But he fell from grace as allegations of sexual misconduct emerged against him, and was found guilty in 2018 of assaulting Andrea Constand at his Philadelphia mansion.

It was the first celebrity trial and first guilty verdict for sexual assault since the advent of the #MeToo movement.

A Pennsylvania judge sentenced the actor to a minimum three and a half years in prison on three counts of aggravated indecent assault.

An earlier trial in June 2017 ended in a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

Although more than 60 women charged that they had been victims of sexual assault by Cosby, he was tried criminally only for Constand's assault, since the statute of limitations had expired in the other cases.

He lost an earlier appeal in December when a court ruled that the prosecution's evidence had established Cosby's "unique sexual assault playbook."

A dozen women who say they were victims of Cosby have filed civil suits against the actor seeking compensation for damages.

Ex-movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was convicted of rape and sexual assault earlier this year with the help of "prior bad acts" witnesses.

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Entertainment

‘Venom: The Last Dance’ Misses Projections as Superhero Films’ Grip on Theaters Loosens

Tom Hardy poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film "Venom: The Last Dance" on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in London. (AP)
Tom Hardy poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film "Venom: The Last Dance" on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in London. (AP)
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‘Venom: The Last Dance’ Misses Projections as Superhero Films’ Grip on Theaters Loosens

Tom Hardy poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film "Venom: The Last Dance" on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in London. (AP)
Tom Hardy poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film "Venom: The Last Dance" on Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in London. (AP)

“Venom: The Last Dance” showed less bite than expected at the box office, collecting $51 million in its opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday, significantly down from the alien symbiote franchise’s previous entries.

Projections for the third “Venom” film from Sony Pictures had been closer to $65 million. More concerning, though, was the drop off from the first two “Venom” films. The 2018 original debuted with $80.2 million, while the 2021 follow-up, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” opened with $90 million even as theaters were still in recovery mode during the pandemic.

“The Last Dance,” starring Tom Hardy as a journalist who shares his body with an alien entity also voiced by Hardy, could still turn a profit for Sony. Its production budget, not accounting for promotion and marketing, was about $120 million — significantly less than most comic-book films.

But “The Last Dance” is also performing better overseas. Internationally, “Venom: The Last Dance” collected $124 million over the weekend, including $46 million over five days of release in China. That’s good enough for one of the best international weekends of the year for a Hollywood release.

Still, neither reviews (36% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) nor audience scores (a franchise-low “B-” CinemaScore) have been good for the film scripted by Kelly Marcel and Hardy, and directed by Marcel.

The low weekend for “Venom: The Last Dance” also likely ensures that superhero films will see their lowest-grossing year in a dozen years, not counting the pandemic year of 2020, according to David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter for Franchise Entertainment.

Following on the heels of the “Joker: Folie à Deux” flop, Gross estimates that 2024 superhero films will gross about $2.25 billion worldwide. The only upcoming entry is Marvel’s “Kraven the Hunter,” due out Dec. 13.

Even with the $1.3 billion of “Deadpool & Wolverine,” the genre hasn’t, overall, been dominating the way it once did. In 2018, for example, superhero films accounted for more than $7 billion in global ticket sales.

Last week’s top film, the Paramount Pictures horror sequel “Smile 2,” dropped to second place with $9.4 million. That brings its two-week total to $83.7 million worldwide.

The weekend’s biggest success story might have been “Conclave,” the papal thriller starring Ralph Fiennes and directed by Edward Berger (“All Quiet on the Western Front”). The Focus Features release, a major Oscar contender, launched with $6.5 million in 1,753 theaters.

That put “Conclave” into third place, making it the rare adult-oriented drama to make a mark theatrically. Some 77% of ticket buyers were over the age of 35, Focus said. With a strong opening and stellar reviews, “Conclave” could continue to gather momentum both with moviegoers and Oscar voters.