Report: Cosby Pays for 'Dirt' on Rape Accusers

Bill Cosby plans to fire back at his rape accusers by digging up tidbits about their past—or, rather, paying private investigators six-figure sums to do so for him, according to unnamed sources in the New York Post. A firm in Glendale, Calif., and about six former LAPD detectives are said to be on the payroll. "If you’re going to say to the world that I did this to you, then the world needs to know, 'What kind of person are you? Who is this person that’s saying it?'" Cosby told his PR and legal people at a recent meeting where he specifically targeted accusations by supermodel Beverly Johnson, a source says.

The strategy—which the Post calls "scorched-earth"—has "sort of worked to some degree already," the source says. For example, Johnson supposedly "only had good things to say about Cosby" to "her live-in lover of several years," the source goes on. The insider also claims that another accuser, Katherine McKee, has written positively about Cosby and once said in an interview that she is "used to lying." Cosby attorney Martin Singer wouldn't confirm the investigations, but says the media doesn't "need private investigators to find out information about the accusers. A simple Google search will obtain the information." Why that's apparently worth six figures, he didn't say. (More Bill Cosby stories.)