ET spoke with Dickinson after Cosby was released after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his 2018 conviction.
Janice Dickinson is speaking out after Bill Cosby's 2018 conviction for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand was overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday.
"I'm angry. I'm angry they let him out over a procedural. That's basically all I have to say," Dickinson tells ET's Kevin Frazier in an exclusive sit-down interview, which will air Thursday on ET. "I can't get into the legalese about it. I can only speak from my heart and say that the statute of limitations is not fair. It's just not fair."
Dickinson shares that she felt like she got "kicked in the stomach" when a friend told her the court's decision.
"This morning when I got up and rolled out of bed," she shares about when she found out the news. "My friend, Stephen Lenehan, gave me a telephone call and he told me, he said, 'I have some bad news.' And I was bracing for a hurricane or something, and he was like, 'Cosby is out of prison.'...First of all, [I felt] so angry. So angry. Second, I felt like I was kicked in the stomach, in my abdomen, by some psychic blow."
Reaction to the news of Cosby's release was mixed and to those rejoicing, Dickinson has this message: "I say to those people, you have not been raped by him."
"I was raped by Bill Cosby," she claims. "And I know that it changed my life forever. That’s why my heart goes out to all the women who started #MeToo after I first came out on your show. I just think people are ignorant."
Dickinson first accused Cosby of drugging and raping her in a 2014 interview with ET. She alleges the incident took place in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, in 1982 under the guise of career help. Cosby's lawyer, Marty Singer -- with whom the 83-year-old has since parted ways -- issued a statement to ET at the time, denying Dickinson's claims in full.
In response to Singer's refutation of her allegations, Dickinson filed a defamation lawsuit against both Cosby and his former attorney, claiming they attempted to brand her a liar and discredit her. Singer was later dismissed from the suit by the judge, however Cosby was not. In 2019, Dickinson reached a settlement in her defamation case.
Cosby was initially charged in the Constand case in 2015. He was acquitted during his first trial in 2017. The next year, during Cosby's retrial, he was convicted of all three felony sex-assault counts. Dickinson was one of several women to testify against Cosby during the Pennsylvania retrial in April 2018.
Prior to his conviction being overturned, Cosby, who has maintained that his encounter with Constand was consensual, had served more than two years of his three to 10 year prison sentence. He was denied parole in May.
On Wednesday, the court found that an agreement Cosby had with a previous prosecutor prevented him from being charged in the case, according to documents obtained by ET. Cosby previously said that he relied on that agreement before agreeing to testify in his accuser's civil lawsuit.
The court also ruled that Cosby's case cannot be prosecuted again, writing, "He must be discharged, and any future prosecution on these particular charges must be barred."
Cosby held a press conference after being released, though did not speak. His attorney, Brian Perry, said, "We've said from day one, we just didn't think he was treated fairly. And that...the system has to be fair, and fortunately the Supreme Court agreed with us. He's happy, his wife is happy. The system only works if it's fair to all sides. That's the bottom line."
Cosby later tweeted a statement, writing, "I have never changed my stance nor my story. I have always maintained my innocence. Thank you to all my fans, supporters and friends who stood by me through this ordeal. Special thanks to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for upholding the rule of law."
Constand, meanwhile, also spoke out, expressing in part in a joint statement with her attorneys Dolores Troiani and Bebe Kivitz: "Today's majority decision regarding Bill Cosby is not only disappointing but of concern in the that it may discourage those who seek justice for sexual assault in the criminal justice system from reporting or participating in the prosecution of the assailant or may force a victim to choose between filming either a criminal or civil action."
See more in the video below. Tune into Entertainment Tonight on Thursday (check your local listings here) to see more of Dickinson's exclusive interview.
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