Topless Protester Arrested at Bill Cosby's Retrial Was a 'Cosby Show' Actress (UPDATE)

A topless woman with the words "Women's Lives Matter" painted on her torso appeared outside the court as Cosby was approaching.

UPDATED April 9 2:53 p.m, ET: The Associated Press has confirmed that the topless protester has been identified as former The Cosby Show actress, Nicolle Rochelle. The 39-year-old actress is said to have appeared in four episodes of the sitcom, and is now part of the international feminist group called "Femen" which was founded in Ukraine in 2009.

This kind of topless protest seems to be the preferred tactic for Femen members; last summer, they crashed Woody Allen's New Orleans Jazz Band performance in Germany with shouts to "stop the culture of silence."

Rochelle played a friend of Rudy's on The Cosby Show, and starred in other '90s programs such as Clarissa Explains It All and The Baby-Sitters Club.

Read the original story below.

Bill Cosby was scheduled to appear in court for a retrial of his sexual assault case on Monday morning, but as he arrived at the Montgomery County Courthouse in Pennsylvania he was met with some unexpected chaos.

Local Philadelphia news reported that the unidentified woman had jumped over a barricade and got within a few feet of the disgraced comedian before sheriff's deputies jumped in to detain her. The woman had the phrase "Women's Lives Matter" painted onto her chest and stomach in red, and appeared to have various women's names painted on her body as well.

The protester's public display was clearly meant to cause a commotion, as the swarms of paparazzi, TV news crews, and onlookers watched and recorded the incident. As she was lead away in handcuffs, she continued to chant "Women's lives matter!" in protest. Cosby, 80, was visibly shaken from the disturbance, but proceeded into the courthouse alongside his spokesman, Andrew Wyatt. Wyatt told the Associated Press he was concerned with the amount of security at the courthouse. "It's a different world. Things have changed. You never know who's going to want to make a name for themselves," he said. 

Cosby's retrial will begin this week in his case against Andrea Constand, a former Temple University basketball administrator. Constand has accused Cosby of drugging and molesting her at his home back in 2004; now, Cosby and his lawyers will face a panel of jurors who have experienced the recent explosion of the #MeToo movement. 

"The #MeToo movement is amplifying what experts have been saying for decades: People are ashamed, they're confused, they can't believe somebody they trust would hurt them, and then they worry that others won't believe them," Kristen Houser of the National Sexual Violence Resource Center said.

After recent events in the movement against sexual assault, along with the judge allowing for five additional accusers to testify, Cosby's retrial is poised to be one that's looking increasingly difficult to beat.

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