Bill Cosby denies molesting then-teen Judy Huth at Playboy Mansion

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Bill Cosby denied allegations he molested a 16-year-old at the Playboy mansion nearly 50 years ago but said he didn’t ask women if they were underaged before having sex, according to a deposition made public on Wednesday. 

In a sworn videotaped deposition from 2015, the 84-year-old comedian testified he didn’t remember meeting Judy Huth and her friend at a park in San Marino, Calif. in 1975. Huth claims that Cosby forced her to perform a sex act inside the Playboy mansion game room.

“I don’t know why,” a frustrated Cosby said to Huth’s attorney, Nathan Goldberg, in the video when asked why Huth made such claims.

“What if I meet someone, people come up and sit next to me, or I meet 100 people … they say hello and take a picture. That (the picture) might show up somewhere. … It doesn’t mean they were with me or I was with them.”

On Wednesday, Huth’s attorneys played snippets of Cosby’s 2015 deposition for the jury since the comedian, who is blind, hasn’t attended the trial in person.

Huth, who alleged Cosby molested her at the Playboy mansion in April 1975 when she was 16-years old, is suing Cosby for sexual battery and emotional distress.

In the video, Cosby testified that when he visited the mansion, there was a protocol– he would push a button and the gates would open. 

“The procedure, if I had a guest, would be to announce myself and to announce that I had guests,” Cosby said. “I would say I had three guests, four guests.”

Cosby said he didn’t recall if guests’ ID’s were checked, but he remembered people would sign the guest book located in the foyer of the main building of the mansion. The comedian, however, said he sometimes took guests directly to the game room, which was adjacent to the main part of the mansion. 

“Do you deny that you took Ms. Huth and her friend … to the Playboy mansion in 1974 thereabouts, while filming of ‘Uptown Saturday Night’ was taking place?” asked Goldberg.

“I don’t recall,” the comedian said. Cosby also testified he didn’t remember if he gave the young women alcohol prior to going to the mansion.

“On those occasions, when you would want to have sexual relations with a woman you found attractive, would you try to make sure they were over the age of 18 before you pursued them,” Goldberg pressed.

“No,” Cosby replied.

But Cosby shook his head and said no when asked if he knowingly went out with girls who were under the age of 18 during the 1970s.

Huth’s attorneys concluded their case after playing the bombshell Cosby tape, but not before Cosby’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, completed her cross-examination of Huth.

On Wednesday, Bonjean asked Huth if she remembers eating dinner at the mansion with Cosby just hours after the comedian allegedly molested her.

Huth said she remembered actor Peter Lawford, who was also at the mansion, ate his dinner, but she couldn’t recall if she had dinner with Cosby and a group of about 15 people.

“So you remember Peter Lawford being there but you don’t remember if the guy who allegedly assaulted you was,” Bonjean asked Huth.

“I don’t know,” Huth answered. She did recall that it was movie night at the mansion, but Huth said she didn’t want to stay because she was afraid of what Cosby would do to her.

“I wanted to leave … I wanted out of there,” Huth said. “I didn’t watch the movie … I was not going to sit in the dark with Bill Cosby after what he did to me, ma’am. That’s the truth.”

Bonjean also pressed Huth about whether her alleged encounter with Cosby was her first sexual experience.

“I thought I was 15,” Huth replied.

“So at 15, it would’ve been your first sexual experience,” Bonjean asked Huth. “Are you saying you forgot your first sexual experience? It wasn’t Bill Cosby, was it?”

Huth, who looked offended at the line of questioning, said she didn’t remember if she was already with her boyfriend that summer.

“Are you saying that Mr.Cosby’s penis was the first penis you ever touched?” Bonjean asked.

“Yes,” Huth replied.

In a heated exchange, Bonjean asked Huth if one of the reasons why she didn’t immediately tell her father about the alleged molestation was because Cosby is a black man.

“You did not want to tell anyone about your incident at the mansion … because he was a black man, and in your community, your household, that just wouldn’t have flown, right,” Bonjean asked.

“So if it was a white man, it would’ve been OK and I could tell everybody,” a shocked Huth replied. “No! That’s not true!”

Bonjean also asked Huth about her mental health history. In her complaint, Huth claimed she underwent severe emotional distress shortly after her youngest son turned 15-years-old in September 2014, which she claims triggered trauma from the 1975 molestation. 

In prior depositions, Huth said she was 15 when she was molested by Cosby, but changed her testimony this week and said she was actually 16-years old.

Bonjean grilled Huth on her medical records, which said the 64-year-old was previously diagnosed with major depressive disorder before 2014. 

When asked about records that showed she had been taking Zoloft and Xanax as early as 2011– before she claims her trauma from Cosby resurfaced– Huth said she didn’t recall taking those prescriptions.

Bonjean also asked Huth about other traumatic events in her life that predated her claim for emotional distress, including physical and sexual abuse she experienced as a child. 

Huth said her stepfather and mother would hit her and her grandfather attempted to molest her when she was a child.

“I cried, he stopped,” Huth said of her grandfather. “I was four.”