Bill Cosby Accuser Andrea Constand To NBC News: Despite His Release, “I Was Vindicated”; “He’s A Sexually Violent Predator” With “Zero Remorse” – Update

Erik Pedersen
·4 min read
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UPDATED with full interview and transcript: In her first major TV interview since the overturning of the ruling against Bill Cosby, accuser Andrea Constand told NBC News she considers him a “sexually violent predator” with “zero remorse.”

The decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to overturn Cosby’s conviction left Constand “shocked” and “disappointed.” Asked if it left her questioning whether it was worth enduring a grueling and public legal process and facing intense scrutiny, she said, “It was worth it. But it was worth it because I wasn’t alone.”

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More of their sit-down aired Tuesday on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. You can read a transcript below.

Constand told NBC News’ Kate Snow that even though Bill Cosby’s conviction was overturned and he was released from prison, she still feels that her allegations of sexual assault against Cosby were believed. “I was vindicated,” Constand said. “I was validated.”

Portions of the interview aired on Today. Constand is promoting a book, which touches on her experience as one of 60 women who accused Cosby of sexual misconduct and assault. Here is the full Today segment:

PREVIOUSLY, September 6: Bill Cosby accuser Andrea Constand is breaking her silence about the comic and actor’s release from prison two months ago. NBC News has landed the first TV interview with the former Temple University employee whose testimony helped put Cosby away for sexual assault.

In a brief clip of the sit-down that will air in full on Tuesday (watch it below), Constand tells Kate Snow she “was really shocked — disappointed” about Cosby being freed from prison after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his 2018 conviction on a technicality. He had been convicted of assaulting Constand in 2004.

Asked by Snow when Cosby’s release says about the American justice system, Constand fairly spat back, “That it’s flawed.”

More of the interview will air Tuesday on NBC’s Today and later on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Snow also had an exclusive interview with Constand for the 2018 Dateline NBC special Bringing Down Bill Cosby: Andrea Constand Speaks.

Cosby originally was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison and was serving time at Pennsylvania’s State Correctional Institution at Phoenix. He had been found guilty in his second trial for assaulting Constand. Cosby, 83, always has maintained that they engaged in consensual relations.

More than 60 women have claimed that Cosby drugged and assaulted them over the decades.

Here is the 15-second clip from Snow’s sit-down with Constand, followed by the transcript provided by NBC News::

KATE SNOW: Do you still feel that you were believed, even given what’s happened with Bill Cosby since?

ANDREA CONSTAND: Yes, I do. I was vindicated. I was validated.

KATE SNOW VOICE OVER: BUT SHE SAYS THE PENNSYLVANIA SUPREME COURT’S DECISION TO OVERTURN COSBY’S CONVICTION — SHOWS THE AMERICAN JUDICIAL SYSTEM IS FLAWED.

SNOW: Bill Cosby celebrated this moment as a victory, a full victory.

CONSTAND: Well, everybody has is entitled to their own celebrations. But it doesn’t change the fact that he’s a sexually violent predator, and he will always be my rapist.

SNOW VOICE-OVER: IN HER BOOK THE MOMENT, SHE DESCRIBES YEARS SPENT REBUILDING HER LIFE. SHE DOESN’T DWELL ON THE PAST AND AVOIDS COVERAGE OF WHAT COSBY IS DOING NOW. COSBY HAS ALWAYS DENIED ANY WRONGDOING AND DOES HAVE STAUNCH DEFENDERS, INCLUDING HIS WIFE CAMILLE.

SNOW: Do you have anything to say about her through all of this?

CONSTAND: I almost would want to say, I’m sorry. I’ve forgiven. I’ve found peace. There was nothing happy for me about seeing somebody put in handcuffs and put into a van and taken to jail. It’s all sad. Lives impacted. Families ruined. I’d say I’m sorry for you. I’m sorry.

SNOW: There are people who believe that Bill Cosby was wronged because of his race, that this was a racially motivated takedown.

CONSTAND: It wasn’t. It happened.

SNOW: You’re saying the crime, the alleged crimes happened.

CONSTAND: And I don’t see any evidence that it was racially motivated.

SNOW VOICE-OVER: CONSTAND RUNS A FOUNDATION NOW TO SUPPORT SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL MISCONDUCT. THERE’S A PHOTO IN THE BOOK OF A PHOENIX TATTOO ON HER BACK.

CONSTAND: I knew that I was going to be taken so far down, that I would have to rise that I would have to rise.

SNOW: Still rising?

CONSTAND: Rising.

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