Cosby's publicist, Andrew Wyatt, described the 81-year-old star once known as "America's Dad," as "strong," and quoted him as saying he is making the best of his prison time.

Wyatt said Cosby wakes up before dawn, works out in his cell and complains that the food is too salty.

His situation "reminds him of some of the great political prisoners, like [Martin Luther King] and Randall Robinson, Dr Benjamin Chavis and Nelson Mandela."

Cosby is serving three to 10 years in a state prison in Pennsylvania for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004.

Wyatt said Cosby has no remorse because he settled a civil lawsuit Constand filed in 2005 for millions of dollars and prosecutors decided then not to press criminal charges.

Cosby maintains his innocence and insists his encounter with Constand was consensual.

He has appealed the verdict, but it could take months for a decision.

He blames his conviction on the political aspirations of "a low-life District Attorney and a corrupt Judge" and his attempts to engage "not just the black community, but all communities, to have a voice."

Wyatt acknowledged in an interview with NBC10 broadcast on Wednesday that dozens of other women have publicly accused Cosby of sexual assault, but he said that doesn't mean the accusations are true.

"What America has said is that women don't lie. Women do lie," he said.

Australian Associated Press