Bill Cosby took the stage Monday at a jazz club in Philadelphia — in a rare public appearance just two months before jury selection is scheduled to begin in his retrial for a sexual assault case.
Cosby, 80, cracked jokes, played with a jazz band and told stories about his childhood to a mostly friendly audience at LaRose Jazz Club for an event honoring the musician Tony Williams, NBC Philadelphia reported.
Cosby, whose appearance was billed as a “special performance,” was on stage for roughly an hour, according to the station.
He did not mention the looming trial.
After leading the band through a set in which he scatted and played the drums, Cosby gave his drumsticks to the young son of the band’s bass player, NBC Philadelphia reported. Then Cosby asked the boy if he knew who he was.
“I used to be a comedian,” Cosby said.
The appearance comes after a judge ordered on Friday that jury selection would begin on March 29 for Cosby’s retrial on charges that he drugged and sexually assaulted Andrea Constand in 2004, court records show.
In an email to NBC News, Constand’s lawyer, Dolores Troiani, said she hadn’t seen Monday’s performance.
“Right now the only thing I can say is the arrogance of this man leaves every decent person speechless,” she said.
Cosby’s first trial on the case ended with a hung jury in Pennsylvania in June. The jury was deadlocked on all counts after 52 hours of deliberations.
Cosby was also spotted in Philadelphia by photographers on Sunday, donning Philadelphia Eagles gear ahead of the NFC Championship game.
A journalist for WHYY News in Philadelphia posted a video on social media of Cosby on stage in a hoodie interacting with the laughing and smiling crowd Monday night.
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