Bill Cosby.
Photo: TRACIE VAN AUKEN/Corbis
Bill Cosby is dropping his defamation lawsuit against one of the more than 50 women who have accused him of sexual assault, the New York Daily News reports. Model Beverly Johnson alleges that Cosby drugged her and groped her during a visit to his house in the 1980s, a claim the comedian denies. Cosby originally filed his defamation suit in December; on Thursday he filed for dismissal “without prejudice,†which leaves the door open for him to sue Johnson again. His spokesman says he will do so after he finishes fighting the criminal charges against him in Pennsylvania, which stem from a separate accusation. Cosby’s other defamation suit, a countersuit against seven women who are themselves suing the star for defamation, remains open.