Three women yesterday spoke publicly about their allegations that Bill Cosby sexually abused them, a day after another woman began legal action against the comedian, claiming she was assaulted as a teenager at the Playboy mansion.
The women appeared alongside celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred, who challenged Cosby to waive the statute of limitations and let the women who say he sexually abused them go to trial.
Allred told a press conference in Beverly Hills on Wednesday that the comedian should waive the statute of limitations to give his alleged victims a chance to make their case – and give him a chance to clear his name. Alternatively, he could put $100m in a fund and let a panel of judges hear the accusations, determine if any had merit and award compensation, she said. “The public deserves to know whether Cosby is a saint or a sexual predator. We challenge Mr Cosby to end this nightmare by accepting either option.”
The 77-year-old entertainer’s fall from grace has been swift. In recent weeks, about two dozen women have come forward with stories of sexual harassment and abuse, shredding his reputation and career. Cosby’s lawyer has called the allegations against the comedian discredited and defamatory.
Shortly after the press conference, the Tarrytown music hall in New York said Cosby’s two stand-up shows there had been cancelled by mutual consent. Since the furore first erupted, stand-up shows in Washington state and Las Vegas have been cancelled, and Netflix and NBC have dropped Cosby projects.
Allred, who has made a speciality of representing women in high profile cases, said the statute of limitations prevented many of the “countless” alleged victims who had contacted her from pursuing their claims in court. “It is time for justice and accountability,” she said.
Three women who flanked Allred spoke from prepared statements. Two had not previously come forward publicly.
Helen Hayes said Cosby followed her around for several days in 1973 during the Clint Eastwood Celebrity Tennis Tournament in Pebble Beach, northern California. She said he eventually groped her in a bar. “His behaviour was like that of a predator,” she said.
A second accuser, named only as Chelan, said she met Cosby in Las Vegas in 1986, when she was 17. He promised to introduce her to agents from a modelling agency before giving her a supposed antihistamine, and lunging at her in his hotel room.
“I couldn’t move or say anything.” She said she blacked out and woke around sixteen hours later when Cosby clapped his hands for her to wake up. He offered $1,500.
Beth Ferrier said she was an aspiring model and had an extra marital affair with him. After ending the relationship, he allegedly invited her to see his stand-up show in Denver, Colorado.
She lost consciousness after drinking a cappuccino he made backstage and woke up hours later with rumpled clothes in her car. She was prepared to testify against Cosby to support another woman’s 2005 lawsuit but he settled before it went to trial.
The new claims came a day after another alleged victim, Judy Huth, 55, filed a lawsuit at the Los Angeles county superior court, claiming sexual battery and infliction of emotional distress for an alleged assault at the Playboy mansion in 1974, when she was 15 years old.
The TV star allegedly led her to a bedroom, sat on the bed and asked her to sit beside him. “He then proceeded to sexually molest her by attempting to put his hand down her pants, and then taking her hand in his hand and performing a sex act on himself without her consent,” said the suit.
The office of Cosby’s lawyer, Martin Singer, told the Guardian there was no immediate statement in response to the lawsuit.
The string of allegations has shocked Americans, who knew Cosby as an actor who broke race barriers on the big screen and TV, most notably as wholesome character Dr Cliff Huxtable on the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show.
