After Bill Cosby refused to discuss rape allegations with NPR host Scott Simon on Saturday, his lawyer released a statement explaining why, reports US Weekly.

The comedian and his wife Camille sat down with Simon to discuss generous donations they made to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art, according to Salon.

When that portion of the interview ended, Simon asked the Cosbys about the infamous rape allegations.

"This question gives me no pleasure, Mr. Cosby, but there have been serious allegations raised about you in recent days," Simon said during NPR's "Weekend Edition Saturday" radio show. "You're shaking your head no. I'm in the news business. I have to ask the question. Do you have any response to those charges?"

Cosby was silent.

"There are people who love you who might like to hear from you about this," Simon continued. "I want to give you the chance."

On Nov. 16, a day after the interview, Cosby's lawyer, John P. Schmitt, posted a statement to the "The Cosby Show" star's website.

"Over the last several weeks, decade-old, discredited allegations against Mr. Cosby have resurfaced," the statement says. "The fact that they are being repeated does not make them true. Mr. Cosby does not intend to dignify these allegations with any comment. He would like to thank all his fans for the outpouring of support and assure them that, at age 77, he is doing his best work. There will be no further statement from Mr. Cosby or any of his representatives."

The sexual abuse allegations against the comedian are not new, but renewed public interest came when comedian Hannibal Buress made Cosby's alleged improper conduct part of his stand-up routine last month.

This was followed by a Washington Post op-ed by one of Cosby's alleged victims, Barbara Bowman, detailing her experiences. Bowman, an artist and married mother of two children living in Scottsdale, Arizona, told the Washington Post that, when Andrea Constand filed a lawsuit against Cosby for sexual assault in 2004, her lawyers asked her to testify. She did not get the opportunity because Cosby settled the suit for an unknown amount of money.

Later, Daily Mail reporter Lycia Naff contacted Bowman for an interview.

"I told her how Cosby won my trust as a 17-year-old aspiring actress in 1985, brainwashed me into viewing him as a father figure, and then assaulted me multiple times," Bowman said in her op-ed.

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