*A woman who says she was Bill Cosby’s sidepiece for three years starting in 1979 is defending the comedian against claims from multiple women that he drugged and sexually assaulted them – despite his 2005 admission that he purchased drugs to give to women he wanted to sleep with.
“What I’ve seen happening in the press about him is so disheartening. He is a kind man. I have never spoken about my personal life before and I needed to say that,” Teresa Taylor told FOX411. “Do I believe half of the women? No.”
Taylor speculated that a man with Cosby’s fame would not have to drug women for sex.
“I respect the women and I can’t dispute it but I don’t believe a lot of it,” she said. “He didn’t need to do anything to get women to sleep with him. Women are attracted to men with money and power. At the time he was one of the most powerful men in Hollywood.”
The former actress says she met Cosby backstage when he was guest-hosting “The Tonight Show” in 1979. Taylor, then 19, claims the married star asked her out to dinner after the taping. Taylor said she agreed because she was flattered that some of his stature would ask. She claims after that night, they went on to date for three years.
Taylor also claims they went on double dates with Hugh Hefner and his former girlfriend Barbi Benton at the Playboy Mansion.
“He was so respectful towards me,” Taylor said. “He never drugged me or offered me Quaaludes. I was young and he took care of me – sometimes financially. He was good to my family. My mom had pictures of Bill all over the house.”
Taylor claims Cosby paid for her to fly to Ohio to visit her mother, and that her divorced mother embraced their alleged romance.
“My mother knew I was alone in Hollywood and I believe she felt safe knowing Cosby was there for me,” Taylor said.
Taylor says she thought he would eventually divorce his wife, Camille, for her.
“I truly loved and cared for him. I was 19. I didn’t even know the word mistress,” she said. “I actually believed he would leave his wife for me but they never leave.”
As for whether Camille Cosby knew of his alleged extramarital activities, Taylor claims she did.
“She knew,” Taylor said. “She chose not to acknowledge it.”
The 56-year-old claims she and Cosby parted ways amicably and remained friends for more than a decade. Taylor told Fox411 she now lives in New York with her boyfriend, where she recently launched a baseball-related product line called Ballpark Canes.
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
