Bill Cosby is in spotlight again for alleged sexual assault. This comes one year after he was freed from prison.
Five women, including two former actors on The Cosby Show, have accused the actor of sexual assault and abuse. In a lawsuit filed Monday in New York state court, the group cited instances of assault, battery, and infliction of emotional distress and false imprisonment by Cosby.
Lili Bernard and Eden Tirl, former actors of the beloved sitcom, as well as Jewel Gittens, Jennifer Thompson, and Cindra Ladd have all previously spoke out about these instances. The law suit was filed under New York’s one-year window for adults to file sexual abuse complaints.
The suit also claims NBC and television companies Kaufman Astoria Studios and Carsey-Werner Television are “culpable and liable” for the alleged assault.
Jordan Merson, an attorney for the five plaintiffs spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the suit. “With the passage of the Adult Survivors Act, these five women can now come forward and pursue justice for what was done to them,” she says. “And as their counsel, we look forward to pursuing discovery of Mr. Cosby and the other defendants in this case.”
However, Cosby’s representative, Andrew Wyatt, called the latest lawsuit “frivolous.”
The 34-page lawsuit details several instances of alleged drugging and rape by the actor through the 1960s and the ’90s. It also states instances where Cosby threatened to black list one of the plaintiffs if she refused his sexual advances.
More than 50 women have come out with similar accusations against Cosby in the past decade. He was convicted in 2018 and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was released in 2021 after his conviction was overturned due to a violation of due process by the prosecution.