Bill Cosby plans 2023 comedy tour after overturned sexual assault conviction

After nearly two years of his prison release, Bill Cosby is planning a comeback tour in 2023. The embattled comedian and actor made this known on Wednesday during an interview with “WGH Talk” with host Scott Spears.

When Spears asked if he would return to comedy in 2023, Cosby said, “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.” The 85-year-old is “looking at spring/summer to start touring”, his rep, Andrew Wyatt, told Variety.

Cosby was sentenced in September 2018 to three to 10 years in prison on three counts of aggravated assault for drugging and sexually assaulting former basketball player, Andrea Constand, in his home in 2004. However, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in June last year overturned his conviction, paving the way for his eventual release.

This month, the disgraced comedian was once again slapped with a lawsuit by five women who claim he sexually assaulted them. Besides Cosby, the other defendants named in the lawsuit include Kaufman Astoria Studios Inc., The Carsey-Werner Company, and NBCUniversal Media. The complaint states that the studios where The Cosby Show was filmed are now managed by Kaufman Astoria and produced by Carsey-Werner. Two of the female plaintiffs featured on The Cosby Show.

The women named as plaintiffs in the complaint are Lili Bernard, Eden Tirl, Jewel Gittens, Jennifer Thompson, and Cindra Ladd. The suit alleges that the defendants are “culpable and liable because they knew and/or should have known that Bill Cosby was sexually abusing, assaulting, and/or battering women, including on their premises, but did nothing to stop it.”

Cosby’s spokesperson Wyatt labeled the lawsuit as “frivolous.” “We believe that the courts as well as the court of public opinion will follow the rules of law and relieve Mr. Cosby of these alleged accusations,” Wyatt said. “Mr. Cosby continues to vehemently deny all allegations waged against him and looks forward to defending himself in court.”