Five women are suing Bill Cosby for sex crimes. A new New York Adult Survivors Act has lifted the previously applicable statute of limitations on such lawsuits, leaving the well-known American actor and comedian in fresh legal trouble.
The lawsuit, which was filed on Monday, is also directed against NBC Universal Mediathe the cosby show and A Different World radiated. The company has been accused of negligence for allegedly turning a blind eye to Cosby’s conduct in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The plaintiffs include two women who have starred in the popular television series. Lili Bernard claims Cosby drugged and raped her before threatening to put her on the industry blacklist if she fights back; Eden Tirl claims she was regularly forced to have lunch alone with Cosby in his dressing room on production days and that he sexually abused her on one of those occasions. Most of the incidents in the lawsuit involve Cosby allegedly using his popular television shows to attract young aspiring actors to his community.
Cosby routinely “drugged women to engage in sexual activity with them without their consent, raped women, violently touched women, and/or coerced women into engaging in sexual activity with him without their consent,” the lawsuit states.
Cosby denies the allegations – the broadcaster is silent
Cosby, 85, has always denied the allegations. “The lawsuit comes as no surprise as state legislatures continue to eliminate statutes of limitations,” Cosby’s attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, said in an emailed statement. “We will vigorously counter every single allegation made against Mr. Cosby.”
Jen Friedman, a spokeswoman for NBC Universalhas not yet responded to a request for comment.
In 2017, more than 60 women accused the actor of various kinds of sexual assaults. The entertainer had always rejected these allegations. Almost all of the cases came to light in the course of the me-too movement and were statute-barred, only one case from 2004 relating to sexual harassment of a Temple University employee was criminally relevant. In 2018, Cosby was sentenced to several years in prison for sexual assault. However, in June 2021, Cosby was released from prison after his conviction was overturned by Pennsylvania’s highest court. The reason: a procedural error. Cosby was released after the actor had served two years and nine months of a ten-year prison sentence.