Bill Cosby reportedly fears someone will slip drugs into his food or drink
Bill Cosby is reportedly worried that someone will do to him what dozens of women say he did — or tried to do — to them: drug his food or drink.
Unnamed sources close to the Cosby family allegedly told Page Six that the 79-year-old comedian has refused local accommodations during proceedings leading up to his sexual assault trial.
"He and his wife are afraid that if he stayed at a hotel, someone will find a way to poison him, put something in his food," one source told the outlet.
"He's blind ... so that makes him even more vulnerable to [being] poisoned or to having someone sneak into his room," another said.
One of the sources added that Cosby believes someone would bug his room, were he to stay in a hotel. Instead, he reportedly woke up at 2:30 a.m. each day to be ferried to the Allegheny County Courthouse in Pittsburgh. According to Page Six, he packs his own food and drink, avoiding courthouse drinking fountains.
Bill Cosby's sexual assault trial will begin on June 5. Pool/Getty Images
Jury selection in Cosby's trial wrapped last week, and the trial begins on June 5. Cosby is accused of having drugged and sexually assaulted his former protégée, Andrea Constand, at his Philadelphia home in 2004. He faces three counts of aggravated sexual assault, which could translate to as many as 10 years in prison.
Over 50 other women have accused Cosby of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment, and many of them describe a very similar version of events: That the comedian slipped them a drug, often in a glass of wine, before taking advantage of them. Only two of those women will be allowed to testify as witnesses in court.
According to Page Six, Cosby is also feeling abandoned by his celebrity friends. While his wife, Camille, and his daughter, Evin, have come to his defense, civil rights leaders like Rev. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson "won't even return his phone calls." Comedians whose careers Cosby helped launch have also declined to show up for him.
"Guys like [Eddie] Murphy, [Martin] Lawrence and Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, guys that he paved the way for ... they won't offer any support," one family source said. "He can't even pay people to come and support him. He's been told that agents have informed their clients that their careers would be over if they got involved."