Bill Cosby Faces New Allegations From Cosby Show Actress
Bill Cosby has several new allegations being leveled against him. On Monday, a lawsuit was filed against NBC and Cosby by five women who allege Cosby raped them or forced them to perform sexual acts between the late 1980s and 1990. One of the five allegations, filed by former Hollywood exec Linda Ladd, dates back to 1969 and accuses Cosby of raping her.
Along with Ladd, the other plaintiffs in the lawsuit against NBC and Bill Cosby include Lili Bernard, Eden Tirl, Jewel Gittens, and Jennifer Thompson. The lawsuit was filed in New York under the Adult Survivors Act, which empowers sexual assault survivors over the age of 18 to file lawsuits regardless of the statute of limitations. The Adult Survivors Act was signed in May and provides those wanting to file suit with a one-year lookback window that began six months after the bill was signed.
This is far from the first sexual abuse allegation that has been leveled against Bill Cosby and the comedian and actor continues to deny all claims. Cosby was previously convicted in April 2018 for sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, an employee of Temple University, and sentenced to a prison term, which he was released from after three years when the state Supreme Court overturned the conviction. The conviction was overturned due to Cosby making a deal with the Montgomery County prosecutor who agreed to not prosecute Cosby if he gave a deposition in a civil case filed by Constand.
In June of this year, Cosby was also ordered to pay $500,000 by a jury in a lawsuit filed by Judy Huth, who filed the suit against Cosby for sexually assaulting her in 1975 when she was 16 years old. The new lawsuit contains five separate allegations, including the aforementioned 1969 allegation filed by Ladd.
In the new lawsuit, Bernard alleges that Bill Cosby drugged and raped her in 1990 during a meeting where he indicated he would help Bernard’s burgeoning career. Tirl, who played a police officer on The Cosby Show, alleges she received repeated invitations to come to Cosby’s dressing room, which she declined before being told to leave. Tirl also alleges an event where Cosby grabbed her from behind without her consent in a manner that made it so she was unable to escape from him.
These latest allegations add to the long timeline of drugging, sexual assault, sexual misconduct, and rape allegations against Bill Cosby. Since Andrea Constand came forth in 2004, there have been approximately 60 women who have accused Cosby of some form of sexual assault or misconduct. It remains to be seen if the latest allegations will lead to another conviction.
According to Variety, Bill Cosby’s spokesperson Andrew Wyatt referred to the lawsuit as “frivolous,” and indicated that Cosby would be defending himself in court rather than pleading guilty to the charges. NBC, the network that aired The Cosby Show, was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Although there is no trial date set, we will likely be hearing more about this lawsuit soon.
