Bill Cosby: Nine women sue former comedian in Nevada over s.e.xual abuse

Kuda M

15/06/2023

Nine women have sued disgraced comedian Bill Cosby, accusing him of using his “enormous power, fame and prestige” to target them for sexual assaults.

The women say the former actor and comedian drugged and assaulted them in homes, dressing rooms and hotels in Nevada between 1979 and 92.

The state has recently scrapped its time limit for filing such claims.

Mr Cosby’s spokesman said they were motivated by an “addiction to massive amounts of media attention and greed”.

It is the latest in a string of civil and criminal cases against the 85-year-old former star, who enjoyed huge fame in the 1980s and 90s thanks to his sitcom The Cosby Show.

In 2018, he was jailed for drugging and molesting a woman, but that conviction was overturned on a technicality in 2021.

Last June, a jury in a civil trial decided he sexually assaulted a teenager at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles in 1975, and awarded her $500,000 (£407,000) in damages.

Earlier this month, former Playboy model Victoria Valentino sued him, alleging that he raped her in 1969 after she had dinner with him. In total, more than 60 women have made allegations against him.

Some of those involved in the latest lawsuit have previously made public accusations against him. They include Lili Bernard, a former Cosby Show guest star, and model and personality Janice Dickinson, who both say he drugged and raped them.

Nevada has recently lifted its statute of limitations for sexual abuse cases involving adults, which previously meant accusers had to file civil cases within two years.

Cosby’s spokesman Andrew Wyatt criticised such so-called “lookback laws” .

“From this day forward, we will not continue to allow these women to parade various accounts of an alleged allegation against Mr Cosby any more without vetting them in the court of public opinion and inside of the courtroom,” he said.

Source: bbc