The woman whose sexual assault accusations against Bill Cosby led to the entertainer’s guilty conviction last month is breaking her silence after 13 years.
Speaking publicly for the first time outside of a courtroom, Andrea Constand shared details about the night Cosby assaulted her during an exclusive interview with NBC’s Kate Snow for a special edition of "Dateline."
The events of that one night led a Pennsylvania jury to find Cosby, 80, guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault.
Constand was operations manager for Temple University women’s basketball program in 2004 when Cosby, a famous Temple alumni and supporter, invited her to his home. Constand had been contemplating a career change and Cosby, who had been mentoring her for months, said he wanted to discuss her plans.
Constant said Cosby offered her something to help her relax that night.
“Three blue pills. And he put his hand out and I said, ‘What are those?’ And he said, ‘They'll help you relax,'" she recalled. "And I said, ‘Are they natural? Are they, like, a herbal remedy?’ And he said, ‘No, they're your friends. Just put them down.’”
Constand said she ended up taking the pills because Cosby was the one who gave them to her.
“I trusted that they would maybe just help me feel a little more relaxed,” she said.
But within half an hour, she started slurring her words and could no longer walk. As she testified in court, Constand said Cosby helped her to a couch and then assaulted her.
“My mind is saying, ‘Move your hands. Kick. Can you do anything? I don't want this. Why is this person doing this?’ And me not being able to react in any specific way,” she said. “So I was limp. I was a limp noodle.”
Constand said she drifted in and out of consciousness.
“I was crying out inside, in my throat, in my mind, for this to stop. And I couldn't do anything,” she said.
Constand awoke hours later, embarrassed by what had happened. She said Cosby gave her some breakfast — tea and a muffin — and Constand drove herself home. She took a shower, had a good cry and went on to work.
But she didn't tell anyone about the assault until a year later when she opened up to her mother. Constand said she feared that no one would believe what had happened to her — that the renowned actor, whose fame skyrocketed as Dr. Huxtable, the goofy pediatrician he portrayed on the popular sitcom, “The Cosby Show,” had just assaulted her.
More than a dozen years later, Constand's claims were the basis of a criminal trial in 2017 ended with a hung jury. A retrial earlier this year resulted in a guilty verdict.
Cosby’s attorneys, who declined NBC Dateline’s request for an interview, said they plan to appeal the conviction.
The Dateline special, "Bringing Down Bill Cosby: Andrea Constand Speaks,” which also includes interviews with four other Cosby accusers, will air Friday.