“Cosby Show” star Bill Cosby now has a sworn, on-camera explanation for why he will not board a plane, a train or a bus.
The National Enquirer exclusively obtained three never-before-seen clips of Cosby’s sworn deposition on Thursday, Oct. 22, 2026. The footage comes from the civil case brought by Donna Motsinger, who won a $59.25 million verdict against him.
Jurors watched the clips at the time of trial. The deposition video runs more than an hour. Asked why he no longer travels to California, Cosby, 89, said: “I am a celebrity, and due to negative publicity about me, I am afraid to be in crowds, especially on airlines, trains, buses.”
Asked in one of the clips whether he gets “on a plane to go anywhere,” he responded firmly: “No.”
A civil jury in Santa Monica, Calif., found him liable Monday, March 23, for sexually assaulting Motsinger in 1972.
Two Pills She Thought Were Aspirin
A server at a restaurant in Sausalito, Calif., Motsinger, 85, filed a 2023 lawsuit saying Cosby invited her to a stand-up show he was playing at a theater in nearby San Carlos. Both were in their 30s at the time. By her account, he gave her wine and two pills she believed were aspirin, and she went in and out of consciousness as two men put her into a limousine.
Jurors sat through nearly two weeks of trial, then deliberated about two days. Their verdict awarded $17.5 million in past damages and $1.75 million for future damages, covering mental suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, inconvenience, grief, anxiety, humiliation and emotional distress. A second phase that afternoon added $40 million in punitive damages. Her suit took about two and a half years from filing to verdict in the California courts, while other lawsuits against Cosby stalled.
Cosby did not testify. Witnesses included Andrea Constand, the Temple University sports administrator. A Pennsylvania criminal court convicted Cosby of sexually assaulting Constand in 2018, the state Supreme Court threw out that verdict, and he walked free after serving nearly three years of a three- to 10-year sentence.
The defense was disappointed and fully intends to appeal, Cosby’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, said in an email after the initial award. Accusations of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment against him have come from at least 60 women. He has denied all of it.
The verdict and the full award still stand after Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Bradley S. Phillips rejected Cosby’s motion for a new trial on May 29. Cosby had described the sum as excessive. His lawyers argued in April that the $40 million in punitive damages did nothing to deter future conduct, calling him an isolated 88-year-old man with no sight.
Too Sick to Be Deposed
His health is now its own courtroom fight. Nine women, including Lise-Lotte Lublin and Lili Bernard, filed a federal lawsuit in Nevada in 2023 that says he drugged and assaulted them between 1979 and 1992. In July, his lawyer said he is not in good health.
Lawyers for the women told the court that a deposition was scheduled Sept. 22 through Sept. 24. The cancellation came from his side on Sept. 21, the third set of dates called off after instances in April and June. They asked the judge for sanctions, or at minimum an order blocking him from testifying.
Bonjean said her client is “homebound” and that questioning him would jeopardize “his safety and health.” She said he is “legally blind and suffers from a variety of health issues, including significant mobility limitations,” and added of the dispute: “There is nothing nefarious going on behind the scenes.”
The women’s attorney, Jordan Rutsky, asked the judge to compel Cosby’s deposition and to enter a default judgment over Cosby’s “repeated and willful discovery misconduct.” A federal judge in Nevada will decide whether Cosby’s health excuses the deposition.
To the Ends of the Earth
Court papers show Cosby was served a writ of execution. Courts use that tool to force payment of a money judgment, usually by seizing and selling property a debtor cannot shield or by garnishing their funds.
Motsinger is owed $59.25 million by Cosby, plus more than $3.3 million in accrued interest and fees. The court ordered the payment, and he appeared to go off the grid afterward. Motsinger’s lawyers say he has not paid any of the judgment and that he allegedly sold art and moved money into his daughter’s trust fund. Cosby and his wife, Camille, defaulted on a $4.2 million mortgage for a Manhattan townhouse in December 2024, and a second foreclosure suit, over their larger Upper East Side home, followed weeks later.
Motsinger said: “Rather than accepting the consequences of his decision to go to trial, Mr. Cosby is fighting yet again to avoid accountability for his own actions.” She put it more simply to the tabloid: “I finally got justice, and I hope I get some money.”
Jesse Creed of Panish Shea Ravipudi, Motsinger’s lawyer, said his team will go “to the ends of the earth to get the money.” He warned that anyone who has taken money from Cosby could face liability for fraudulent transfer.
