Bill Cosby faces a new lawsuit against him from a singer who claims that the comedian drugged and raped her in the late 1980s.
According to paperwork filed under the Adult Survivors Act that was seen by PEOPLE, plaintiff Morganne Picard accused Cosby, 86, of inviting the aspiring musician to the set of The Cosby Show in 1987, when she alleged that he “insisted and encouraged” her to drink beverages that made her feel “extremely intoxicated” on “multiple occasions” between then and 1990.
Picard also alleged that she was blacked out and raped after drinking a beverage from Cosby at his home, and later woke up “naked with soreness in her vagina” in a hotel room.
“Upon information and belief, when Ms. Picard was physically incapacitated by the unknown intoxicant, Cosby undressed and raped her, without her consent and when she did not have the capacity to consent,” the lawsuit alleged.
The document also named Kaufman Astoria Studios, Astoria Studios LP II, the Carsey-Warner Company and NBCUniversal as defendants, as they did “not investigate, reprimand, supervise nor in any way try to stop Cosby from sexually abusing, assaulting and/or battering women.”
Kaufman Astoria Studios, the Carsey-Warner Company and NBCUniversal did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Saturday. Astoria Studios LP II, meanwhile, could not be reached for comment.
Picard is specifically suing Cosby for battery, assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress. She’s suing the other defendants for negligent hiring and negligence.
“It is disappointing to see that these alleged distractors are able to monetize false allegations against Mr. Cosby,” Andrew Wyatt, a rep for the comedian, said in a statement to PEOPLE.
Wyatt added: “Mr. Cosby continues to invoke his Constitutional Rights by saying, ‘Not Guilty’ and vehemently denying all of these alleged allegations waged against him.”
The Adult Survivors Act gives adult victims a window of a year to sue alleged abusers over older sexual crime regardless of the Statute of Limitations. The one-year window for new claims ends on Thanksgiving 2024.
Back in June, former Playmate model Victoria Valentino filed a lawsuit against Cosby in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging that he drugged and raped her after they ran into each other in 1969. At the time, Wyatt referred to the suit as an attack on “the Black men in America,” in a statement provided to PEOPLE.
Six months before that, five women filed a 34-page complaint against the actor after previously accusing him of sexual assault in New York’s Supreme Court. Eden Tirl, Jewel Gittens, Jennifer Thompson, Lili Bernard and Cindra Ladd — the alleged victims named in the suit — accused Cosby of “sexual assault, sexual battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress.”
The Cosby spokesperson told Deadline at the time that the complaint was “a frivolous civil lawsuit.”
Cosby — who over 60 women have accused of drugging and sexually assaulting them — was convicted on three counts of aggravated indecent assault and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2018. He was then released in 2021 after his conviction had been vacated.
In other news – Kaitlyn Bristowe and Jason Tartick split
Kaitlyn Bristowe and Jason Tartick have called it quits. One of Bachelor Nation’s favorite couples announced their breakup on August 6. Kaitlyn and Jason broke the news with a joint statement on their Instagram pages.
The former couple wrote that they have “decided to end our engagement” after “sharing the news with family and close friends first,” as well as coming to terms with the breakup themselves. “We are thankful for all of you who gave us the time and space to process this life-altering decision as there are many emotions and changes to navigate,” the statement began. Read More
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