If a report by Page Six is to be believed, the perceived insidiousness of Bill Cosby has been given a new layer. A source tells Richard Johnson that Cosby, desperate to kill a National Enquirer story about his alleged "swinging with Sammy Davis Jr. and some showgirls in Las Vegas," gave the tabloid information on his daughter Erinn's drug problems.

A former Enquirer reporter told Page Six that the tabloid had a story planned about Cosby's alleged sexual escapades for the summer of 1989:

Contacted by the Enquirer for comment, Cosby apparently handed the weekly a story about his then-23-year-old daughter Erinn's battle with drug and alcohol abuse instead.

"My editor told me that daddy Cosby was the source. He ratted out his flesh and blood," said my source.

Cosby was quoted in the flattering story as saying, "Deep down inside, she knows we love her."

Erinn Cosby, then 23, was struggling with drug and alcohol problems, and at the time accused Mike Tyson of having sexually assaulted her in his New Jersey home. Bill Cosby demanded both seek treatment; Erinn was estranged from the family until her brother Ennis' death in 1997.

[Image via AP]