Bill Cosby Reveals His Reasoning For Sexual Assault Lawsuits

05/16/2017 02:43 pm EDT

Billy Cosby believes racial discrimination could be the reason why he has been accused of sexual assault by a number of women over the last two years. The 79-year-old actor sat down with Michael Smerconish of Sirius XM on Tuesday to speak out about his legal predicament.

When asked if "racism" could play a role in the sexual assault lawsuits, Cosby said: "Could be, could be. I can't say anything, but there are certain things that I look at, and I apply to the situation, and there are so many tentacles. So many different – nefarious is a great word. And I just truly believe that some of it may very well be that."

Smerconish then addressed the fact that both black and white women have accused him of the crimes, according to Daily Mail.

"Let me put it to you this way: When you look at the power structure, and when you look at individuals, there are some people who can very well be motivated by whether or not they're going to work" he said. "So it's not all, not every, but I do think that there's some."

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One of Cosby's accusers, Lili Bernard, has said that racial discrimination has "nothing to do with it." Bernard is a Cuban-born woman who identifies as black.

"What about us black women whom he sexually violated?" Bernard said during an interview with NBC in November of 2016. "We're talking about a man who serially raped at least 60 women and that's where the focus must be, race has nothing to do with it."

Bill Cosby and his team have cited racial discrimination as the basis for the allegations on multiple occasions. The comedian's legal team filed a motion in Pennsylvania criminal court last October calling the "racial bias" against Cosby as "unfortunate."

"We cannot ignore the unfortunate role that racial bias still plays in our criminal justice system," the attorneys wrote.

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At the end of April, Bill Cosby's daughter, Evin Cosby, penned an essay in defense of her father. She explained that her father is not the man that the media portrays him to be. She added that Bill Cosby has been a positive influence on her life as well as the lives of her children. Evin then went on to bash the rape allegations and her father's accusers.

Read the full letter here.

[H/T Daily Mail, Photo Credit: Gilbert Carrasquillo / Getty]

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