Andrea Constand has spoken out publicly for the first time about the night that Bill Cosby assaulted her.
Accompanied by her mother, the 45-year-old former basketball player told Dateline that she went to Cosby’s home under the assumption that she was going to get some career advice from him.
However, within minutes of meeting the disgraced TV star, Constand was handed three pills and told to take them to help her relax.
Exclusive: Andrea Constand and her mother Gianna will appear on NBC’s Dateline on Friday night where they will discuss Andrea’s sexual assault at the hands of Bill Cosby
Bitter pill: Constand explained that she quickly felt like a ‘limp noodle’ after Cosby handed her three blue pills and told her to take them to help her relax
Unconscious: As she drifted out of consciousness, Constand said she tried to call out for help but couldn’t as her words seemed stuck in her throat and mind
Recording: During the interview with Dateline’s Kate Snow, Gianna Constand revealed that she bought a voice recorder to try and get a confession out of Cosby on tape
‘He had three blue pills in his hand and he put his hand out,’ she recalled. ‘I said “What are those?” He said, “They’ll help you relax”‘.
When Constand asked him if they were natural or herbal, he simply assured her that the pills were ‘your friends’.
‘I took them because I trusted that they would make me feel a little more relaxed,’ she said.
‘You trusted him?’ NBC Senior National Correspondent Kate Snow asked her.
‘Yes, I did,’ Constand replied. ‘Yes, I did’.
Within a half hour, Constand started slurring her words and could no longer walk. Cosby helped her to a couch, where he began to assault her.
‘My mind is saying, “Move your hands, kick, I don’t want this, why is this person doing this?”‘ she recalled.
‘I was limp. I was a limp noodle.’
Constand recalled that Cosby said ‘nothing’ during the assault. And she wasn’t able to speak.
‘I was in and out of consciousness,’ she said. ‘I was crying out inside, in my throat, in my mind, for this to stop. I couldn’t do anything.’
Constand woke up hours later and knew what had happened. That morning, Cosby brought her tea and a muffin for breakfast.
She then went home, where she cried in the shower before going to work.
For a year Constand told no one. She feared no one would trust her story or believe that America’s Favorite Dad could secretly be a monster.
Relationship: At the time Constand, the operations manager for Temple University’s women’s basketball team (pictured), was being mentored by Cosby – a famous Temple alum
Abuse of power: Cosby (pictured here after being found guilty of sexual assault) asked Andrea to come to his house so he could give her some career advice
Silenced: In a clip of the interview aired on Thursday’s Today show, Constand recalled that Cosby said ‘nothing’ during the assault
‘I didn’t think anybody would believe me. It was Bill Cosby. It was Dr Huxtable. I thought I was the only person that he did this to. Who’s going to believe me?’
However, she eventually did report the incident to police and also spoke about what prompted her to do so.
‘I woke up and I had a bad dream. And that dream was that Mr Cosby would do this to somebody else if I did not say or tell someone. So I woke up crying and I said, “mom, Mr Cosby drugged me and he sexually violated me” and she was so caught off-guard.’
Speaking about her own reaction, Andrea’s mother Gianna revealed: ‘She said, “Mom, he’s a b**tard” and I said “Andrea, who are you talking about?” and she said “Mom, he drugged me and he raped me,”‘ before revealing to her mother that she was talking about Bill Cosby.
Gianna then explained how she called Cosby to ask him why he had assaulted her daughter.
After he apologized for his actions, she got the idea to buy a recording device from her local RadioShack so she could get his confession on tape.
The call was played in the courtroom and will be played in full during the Dateline episode, and the other accusers who testified during the disgraced actor’s recent retrial will also feature.
‘For the verdict she told me she had come to peace with this and was sitting in the courtroom thinking, “Whatever way this goes, I am going to be OK with it,”‘ explained Snow while previewing the special on Today.
‘She didn’t react much when the verdict was read. She describes to me hearing those words “guilty, guilty, guilty’ on three counts and feeling stunned and feeling some level of redemption.’
The special will also feature interviews with Janice Baker-Kinney, Lise-Lotte Lublin, Heidi Thomas, and Chelan Lasha.
Those four women, along with Janice Dickinson, testified at the trial last month after the court ruled that five accusers could give testimony in the case.
They consider Constand a ‘hero,’ as do the over 50 women who also publicly accused the once-beloved Hollywood star.
Speaking out: During the emotional interview, Constand also shared that she eventually felt ready to tell her mother what happened after she had a nightmare about the event
Redeption: Constand also admitted she felt ‘redemption’ after the verdict but had been prepared for both outcomes
‘I honestly didn’t know what to expect when we met in New York after the verdict. I knew Andrea was into wellness and holistic medicine. She works as a massage therapist in Toronto,’ said Snow in a reporter’s notebook piece about her interview.
‘When I watched her testify, Andrea was calm and centered. I saw her close her eyes at moments and take deep cleansing breaths. I wondered whether she would be quiet and subdued in our interview. As it turned out, she was thoughtful, frank, resolute and unflinching.’
Snow goes on to say that Constand told her ‘she has found peace.’
The interview also delves into Constand’s decision to help prosecute Cosby 12 years after the incident.
‘I asked Andrea whether it was difficult to decide to cooperate, to testify. She told me that she didn’t do it just for herself,’ said Snow.
‘She said she did it because so many women had come out in public and accused Cosby at that point. She told me she believed all those women and felt she needed to be their voice.’
Earlier this month, Judge Steven T. O’Neill ordered Cosby to return to the Montgomery County Courthouse in Pennsylvania on September 24 for the sentencing hearing in his criminal case.
The court order also informed Cosby and his defense team that two days had been set aside for the hearing, which suggests that O’Neill might allow some of the 62 women who have publicly accused Cosby of sexual assault to come forward and speak.
Constand is expected to deliver her victim impact statement at that time.
Cosby is facing 30 years in prison after he was found guilty on three counts of aggravated incident assault.
He also has two more jury trials ahead of him in Los Angeles at the end of the year after being accused of sexual assault by Chloe Goins and Judy Huth.
Peace: Constand (pictured with her prosecutors) said she has ‘found her peace’ after Cosby was found guilty in April of sexually assaulting her
Impact: Constand (pictured with prosecutor Kristen Feden) is expected to deliver her victim impact statement during Cosby’s sentencing in September
Cosby has been under house arrest at his estate in nearby Elkins Park ever since a jury found him guilty of drugging and molesting Constand in 2004, while she was an employee at Temple University.
He has also been outfitted with an electronic monitoring bracelet and may only leave his home to visit his lawyer or doctor.
Ahead of his sentencing, Cosby will also undergo a Sexually Violent Predator Test, the results of which will be examined by the Sexual Offenders Assessment Board, who will pass along their recommendations to the court.
In addition to Constand, it is likely that the five other women who testified at Cosby’s trial will be able to deliver victim impact statements at the sentencing hearing in September.
Baker-Kinney, Dickinson, Lasha, Lublin and Thomas all testified on behalf of the prosecution, who had hoped to have 13 witnesses take the stand during Cosby’s retrial.
Constand testified in court that Cosby gave her wine and pills and then sexually assaulted her while she was unconscious.
‘I got scared,’ Constand told police of the alleged assault. ‘I had no strength in my legs. They felt rubbery and like jelly. I felt spacey. Everything was blurry or dizzy. I had no thought to call 911.’
She later told police: ‘I told him, “I can’t even talk, Mr Cosby.” I started to panic.’
Result: Cosby was found guilty on three counts of aggravated incident assault after a jury determined he drugged and molested Constand
Constand, who at the time was the operations manager for Temple University’s women’s basketball program, had arrived at Cosby’s home to discuss her future.
The actor was a famous Temple alum and had been mentoring Constand for months. He invited her over to discuss a career change that was making her anxious.
Constand recalled telling Cosby she was feeling ‘drained’ and emotionally occupied’.
That is when Cosby allegedly went upstairs and returned with the three blue pills, telling her: ‘These will make you feel good. The blue things will take the edge off.’
According to the affidavit of probable cause, Cosby then told Constand to have some wine, and soon after she began to have trouble speaking and seeing.
Cosby then allegedly told her to lie down on the couch, and soon after, according to the affidavit of probable hearing, was ‘fondling her breasts, put his hands into her pants, and penetrated her vagina with his fingers’.
He also allegedly took her hand and placed it on his erect penis.
Constand claims she woke up hours later around 4am and realized her bra was undone and above her breasts and that her sweater was bunched up.
As she made her way to the door she claims Cosby was standing there in a robe and holding a muffin, which he handed to her as she left while saying: ‘Alright.’
Constand, a former college basketball star herself, launched a legal suit against Cosby in March 2005.
The case against him emerged just days before Pennsylvania’s 12-year statute of limitation deadline for pressing charges was about to run out and despite a previous DA declining to charge Cosby a decade ago.
Dateline’s Bringing Down Bill Cosby: Andrea Constand Speaks airs on Friday, June 1 on NBC at 10pm ET/9pm CT