Bill Cosby Accuser Andrea Constand: He Described Pills as ‘My Friends’
Andrea Constand, the first woman to pursue sexual assault charges against Bill Cosby, broke her 13-year silence in a harrowing preview of her upcoming Dateline interview. Constand, 45, told NBC’s Kate Snow that Cosby drugged her with pills that he described as her “friends.”
The crime took place in 2004 when Cosby, a Temple University alum, invited Constand, the operations manager for the college’s women’s basketball program, to his home. Constand had been considering a career shift, with Cosby mentoring her in the transition. To help her relax, the Cosby Show star offered her “three blue pills,” Constand recalled. “He put his hand out, and I said, ‘What are those?’ And he said, ‘They’ll help you relax.’ And I said, ‘Are they natural? Are they, like, a herbal remedy?’ And he said, ‘No, they’re your friends. Just put them down.'”
Constand said she took the pills because she “trusted that they would maybe just help [her] feel a little more relaxed.” Within 30 minutes, she was slurring her words and couldn’t walk. At that point, she said, Cosby led to her the couch and began the assault. “My mind is saying, ‘Move your hands. Kick. Can you do anything? I don’t want this. Why is this person doing this?’ And me not being able to react in any specific way,” she said. “So I was limp. I was a limp noodle.”
As she began to drift in and out of consciousness, she recalled, “I was crying out inside, in my throat, in my mind, for this to stop. And I couldn’t do anything.” She remembered waking up hours after the assault, embarrassed, and Cosby offering her a tea and muffin. Then she drove herself home, showered, cried and went to work.
Constand remained silent about the assault for a year before telling her mother what happened. She recalled fearing that no one would believe such claims against Cosby, a beloved sitcom star and cultural icon. But over 12 years later, she came forward with the accusations – and last month, after an initial 2017 trial ended in a deadlocked jury, Cosby was found guilty on three counts of indecent aggravated assault and faces up to 10 years in prison on each count.
Constand’s mother, Gianna, along with Constand’s attorneys Dolores Troiani and Bebe Kivitz and Angela Rose of PAVE (Promoting Awareness Victim Empowerment) filmed interviews for the hour-long Dateline special, which airs Friday, June 1st at 10 p.m. ET. Four other Cosby accusers – Janice Baker-Kinney, Lise-Lotte Lublin, Heidi Thomas and Chelan Lasha – participated in the episode.