A Lovefraud reader asked me to write about the Bill Cosby scandal. A total of 27 women have publicly come forward to tell their stories of being sexually assaulted by the famous comedian.
A complete list of the women who have accused Bill Cosby of sexual assault, on Slate.com.
As I read the accounts, I kept seeing virtually the same story, over and over.
Many of the women were young models and actresses who claim Cosby made a pretense of offering them career advice. One woman, however, was a 19-year-old waitress who said Cosby offered her a ride home and then assaulted her. Another woman was 19 when Cosby approached her in a gift shop at the Las Vegas Hilton, where he was performing, and invited her backstage. She says she was drugged, and woke up to find him having sex with her in the green room bathroom.
At this point the shocking realization hit me: This could have happened to me.
Atlantic City Magazine
From 1978 through 1982 I was editor of Atlantic City Magazine. It was my first job out of college.
The job sounds more prestigious than it was. Casino gambling had just become legal in New Jersey, and Atlantic City’s first casino opened a few weeks after I graduated from college. Atlantic City Magazine was a startup publication. I was not only the first editor; I was the first employee.
I had majored in magazine journalism in college, and founded a campus magazine. But I think the prime reason I got the job in Atlantic City was because I was in the right place at the right time.
Arranging the Cosby interview
Atlantic City Magazine frequently published interviews with the headline entertainers who performed at the casinos. Sometime around 1980, when I was 24 years old, Bill Cosby, who regularly appeared in Atlantic City, agreed to be interviewed.
I needed to finalize the time and place where our writer would meet the comedian. But Cosby wasn’t available — he was playing tennis with a casino executive. So in this era before cell phones, I drove over to the indoor tennis courts.
After making the arrangements with a casino PR person, I, along with a few others, watched Cosby play tennis.
As the game was coming to an end, Cosby announced that he wanted to go to the famous White House Sub Shop. But he didn’t have a car. So as the casino folks were trying to figure out how to get him to the sub shop, Cosby pointed at me and said, “She’ll take me.”
Driving Bill Cosby
I was astounded. Everybody looked at me, and I said I could take him.
So, when Cosby finished playing tennis, we got into my car. The car was something plain and white that Atlantic City Magazine rented for me — certainly not what I assume the TV star was accustomed to driving in.
I was star struck. During the 15 minutes that it took to drive from the tennis courts to the sub shop, I tried to engage Cosby in conversation. He didn’t say much. But he did spit out the window.
When we arrived at the sub shop, I stopped the car, let him out and drove away.
It never occurred to me to go in with him, be a groupie, order subs, or make sure he got back to the casino. That’s how naive I was.
Dodged a bullet
Later, realizing that I’d let an opportunity to make an important connection slip through my fingers, I berated myself for my stupidity.
But now, after reading the accounts of all the young women who claim that Cosby assaulted them, I can’t help but wonder if the same thing could have happened to me.
Maybe Cosby assumed that I’d go into the White House with him, and drive him back to the casino. Then, perhaps he would have invited me backstage. I know I would not have questioned his intentions. I didn’t understand then that rich, famous, powerful men took advantage of young women.
Had Bill Cosby done the same thing to me that he allegedly did to all those other young women, I know one thing. I would have been severely traumatized.
So perhaps I was lucky that I drove away.
More info:
Everything you need to know about the Bill Cosby scandal, on Time.com
Bill Cosby’s legacy, recast: Accusers speak in detail about sexual assault allegations, on WashingtonPost.com.
I was chewed up and spit out in a ‘classic’ manner and at record speed
Donna, you definitely dodge a bullet in Atlantic City with Cosby….
“Chelsea Handler is not buying Bill Cosby’s innocence. Why? Because she says she, too, had a sketchy close encounter with him 10 years ago.
When speaking with Esquire, Handler alleges she could have been one of the 20-plus women who have come forward claiming to have been sexual assaulted by the once-beloved comedian.
“He tried to Cosby me,” Handler, 40, tells the mag. “Oh, I was in Atlantic City playing, doing stand-up, and he was doing stand-up in Atlantic City in the same hotel, and at like 3 o’clock in the afternoon, someone from the hotel came down and said, ‘Oh, you know, Mr. Cosby would really like to meet you up in his hotel suite.'”
Handler says she knew something was off.
“And I thought, ‘That’s really weird,'” she recalls. “This was like 10 years ago. And I said, ‘That’s really weird. I don’t want to go alone.’ I go, ‘I don’t know him.’ So the three guys I was with thank God these guys were with me. One was filming and one was like a producer; we were filming something I brought them up with me to his room and thank God I did, because now I know what would’ve happened if I went up there alone.”
Many women have come forward in the past several months, including supermodels Janice Dickinson and Beverly Johnson, telling stories that started in a similar way and ended with them being drugged and/or assaulted.
Handler continues, “And I forgot about it when all the stories about Bill Cosby came out. I was like, I didn’t even think of it. Then my friend texted me the other day saying, ‘Do you remember that night we went up to, or that afternoon we went up to Bill Cosby’s and you were so freaked out you made us come with you?’ And I said, ‘Yeah,’ and he said, ‘Hello! You could’ve been one of his victims if we weren’t there.’ And I went, ‘Oh, my gosh.'”
“He tried to Cosby me!” This is an appropriate cry and symbolic for all women who have been victims of his, or any kind of sexual assault! What does this tell you about this sociopathic manimal! It’s been more than 2 months since sexual assault charges were filed with the LAPD by a victim assaulted in 2008. Nothing has been reported or leaked since, which leads me to believe that #1) there’s mounting evidence to support her claims or #2) Cosby’s pit bulls (attorneys) are buying off the LAPD. I suspect the latter and no doubt Cosby will try to “settle” before going to court.
Wow Jan7 – yes, I think I did dodge a bullet
Donna
More than dodging a bullet, it’s important to notice that something in side of you, had the sense to not go in with him.
Something knew boundaries and reasonableness, and didn’t feel comfortable enough to automatically tag along with the “star” and instead to completed your assigned task, and kept to yourself, by leaving.
It wasn’t niavete, it was you being powerful enough to stay away. And not get numbed or sucked in by his energy.
No matter what ones you haven’t noticed, it’s important to notice the ones you have spotted and avoided.
C
Two more brave & courageous victims come forward.
Crusading women’s-rights attorney Gloria Allred on Friday introduced two more women who say Bill Cosby sexually assaulted them.
And Allred promised there would be more women going public with similar stories.
Allred already represents a half-dozen of more than 30 women who have come forward recently to accuse Cosby of drugging and raping them in episodes dating back decades.
On Friday, she held another press conference in her Los Angeles office to introduce her latest Cosby-accuser clients, Sunni Welles and Margie Shapiro.
She chose Friday because Cosby was scheduled to perform in Baltimore tonight, and in Charleston, W.Va., Saturday night.
“I have been asked how many more victims there are,” Allred said. “Only Mr. Cosby knows the answer to that question but I can assure him that I have more who have not yet come forward, but who will speak out in the future.”
Welles and Shapiro told stories similar to those told by other Cosby accusers, except they were teenagers when they say they encountered him. And, like the other accusers, the statute of limitations has run out in their cases.
USA TODAY
Chelsea Handler: Cosby tried to ‘Cosby’ me
Welles said she was 17 and an aspiring singer in the mid-1960s when she met Cosby through her agent/manager mother who was a longtime friend of his. She trusted Cosby but believes Cosby raped her during two different dates, after first drugging her soda.
“But I did not want to believe that a family friend would do that to me,” Welles said.
After the second time, she and her mother never spoke to Cosby again and she buried the memories until last fall, when multiple women began coming forward with similar stories.
“I no longer think Bill Cosby is a nice man,” Welles said. “I believe that BIll Cosby is a sexual predator and a disgusting human being to not acknowledge what he has done to so many girls and women in his life.”
USA TODAY
Cosby accuser’s mom sends letter to wife Camille
Shapiro said she was 19 in 1975 when she met Cosby when he came into the donut shop where she was working nearby to a film he was shooting in Santa Monica.
She says he took her to a guest house at the Playboy Mansion estate and persuaded her to take an unknown pill during a pinball game. She passed out but regained consciousness to find Cosby raping her.
She told her roommate, brother and several close friends what happened but not the police. “I was confused and at a loss because I could not believe that anyone would believe me over Bill Cosby,” she said.
USA TODAY
Hey, hey, hey, Bill Cosby’s talking to you
Cosby’s legal team has not responded to these latest allegations, but he has denied all wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime. He has spoken to fans through videos in which he says, “I’m far from finished.”
Allred repeated that she’s far from finished with Cosby. Some of her clients have already sued him in civil court, one of several lawsuits he has faced from accusers.
USA TODAY
Cosby accusers battle him in court papers
“It is long overdue for Bill Cosby to take legal, moral and public responsibility for what he has done and answer each and every allegation that has been made against him without making a joke about it,” Allred said. .
At his Baltimore performance Bill Cosby responded to hecklers: “We are here to enjoy my gifts”. Yeah, we know what “gifts” you inflicted on over 40 (and counting) sexually assaulted women! His performance costume reads “Hello Friend” but should read “Hello Next Victim, Wanna Drink?”! Apparently bottled water was not sold at his Baltimore performance as his security worried one might be thrown at him. Bottled water and pills SHOULD be thrown at him! Thank you hecklers and protesters for your expense and courage to disrupt this evil man’s arrogance and ego to perform. Most of all, thank you brave and courageous women for continuing to come forward with your Cosby sexual assault experiences.
“Jesus would give you a little wiggle room” Cosby said in reference to sin at his Baltimore performance. Explaining that he preferred dealing with Jesus Christ rather than his less-forgiving father, Cosby concluded, “Jesus would give you a little wiggle room.” YES, THAT WAS ACTUALLY PART OF HIS STANDUP, BS MONOLOGUE! Cosby pontificating on sin? He doesn’t care, believe or give a s*** anything about God, Jesus Christ, the bible or anything remotely moral because he thinks HE IS GOD! What he does know is how to say, dupe, charm and manipulate his victim fans and public into believing he’s a human being. He is not; he’s a freak of nature. Sociopaths are freaks of nature and very adept at their slimy survival skills by destroying anybody in their path, and with his wealth, power, that’s exactly what Cosby is doing.
Cosby’s mask has slipped!! So scary to think this evil man is still walking around freely.
Jan7”.Yes his mask has slipped but only to those of us who know, have experienced and been victims of sociopathic behavior with persons we innocently believed were of basic moral character. Empathic victims will continue to excuse their diabolic nature because they were taught that there’s inherent good in anybody. That applies only to human beings with a soul. Sociopaths have no soul. The hardest part of coming to terms for us at LF, when we understand sociopaths and their behaviors and signs, is that they are really out there, and evil really exists right out our front door!
Cosby’s audacity, ego, grandiosity and arrogance just doesn’t stop! “ABC Television announced today the guest appearance of embattled comic legend Bill Cosby on the hit show “Dancing with the Stars”. The announcement was made this morning at a press conference featuring ABC’s Head of Family Programming Geena Talia. Ms. Talia stated “ABC Television is aware of the rumors and accusations circulating about Mr. Cosby. We must be mindful Mr. Cosby has not been charged with a crime and deserves to be treated innocent until proven guilty”. MS TALIA IS HEAD OF FAMILY PROGRAMMING AT ABC?? REALLY, WHAT’S WRONG WITH THAT?
He’s scheduled to appear on DWTS and industry insiders think the DWTS appearance will be a vehicle to announce his latest project, a sitcom called “Dribblers”. “Dribblers” is about an aging NBA star that gets a second leash on life by coaching a GIRLS’ BASKETBALL TEAM at a big city college (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!!).
“Dribblers” creator Molly Popper described Cosby’s character as a mentor (??) for young female athletes as he guides them through life’s challenges with sage advice and humor. Popper went on to say “THE SHOW ADDRESSES ALL ISSUES A YOUNG WOMAN MIGHT ENCOUNTER BEING IN A LARGE CITY BY HERSELF AWAY FROM HOME FOR THE FIRST TIME.” Oh, and does it address the serial drugging and raping of young women by a famous comedian?
http://www.tmrzoo.com/2015/65627/bill-cosby-guest-appear-abcs-dancing-stars/
Absolutely mind blowing!!!
Clearly Cosby is a masterful manipulator with his words and can convince anyone to do what he wants including the people at ABC.
HollyWeird is full of sociopaths & psychopaths. Anyone that “Ok” him to be on DWTS should be boycotted along with ABC. And people wonder why these victims did not “come forward sooner”. Cosby Has power in Hollywood.
Truly Sickening. This will no doubt be a trigger for all his victims. Sad for them. Where are all the women groups such as NOW & The National Domestic Violence Center?
Thank you for posting Knownow.
DWTS has been losing ratings for a while. They’ve been desperate as evidenced by all sorts of things they’ve been coming up with — not just this.
This is just ratings desperation. Plus a good dose of stupidity. He didn’t charm them into it. Doubt it’s about him and power. It’s about whoever decided, putting controversy above emotional decency, with a lack of morality. Probably by someone who’s been abused and doesn’t know how to avoid such things.
It will end the show. If the Blue Moon episode where Matty and David get together that felt more like a rape than a romance, ended that show (and it did according to ratings experts)… this will end this one.
Too bad. I liked it.
Jan7 ”yes it is truly mind blowing, horrific and sickening! I will not support ABC or DWTS, . . never liked the show anyway and will definitely not watch it now. Yeah the show is tanking. The other show “The View” is tanking. I’ve totally stopped watching it after Whoopie Goldberg dismissed Cosby’s accusers and commented re Roman Polanski’s drugging and rape charges, as “Well, it wasn’t like rape, rape” Like rape isn’t rape unless it’s in an alley? Let’s not forget about another HollyWeird pervert Woody Allen!
It’s very sad how our society treats victims of abuse and how they put a guy like Cosby on a pedestal. So crazy.
(I lost all respect for Woppie with regards to how she handled Polanski/Cosby & Woody looks like a creep how Hollyweird puts him on pedestal is mind blowing especially after what he did to his step daughter now wife)
In yet another desperate attempt to boost attendance at his final performance Cosby states on video .. “I’m going to perform because I love it when you laugh, I love it when you smile ”“ I love it,” he said regarding his upcoming show May 2nd at the Cobb County Performing Arts Centre. What he’s really saying is” “I LOVE IT .. WHEN YOU’RE DRUGGED AND UNCONSCIOUS WHERE I CAN SEXUALLY GET OFF OR RAPE YOU ANY WAY I WANT FOR 8 TO 10 HOURS, HAVING COMPLETE CONTROL OVER YOU, AND WITHOUT YOU KNOWING OR BEING ABLE TO FIGHT BACK.” The number of women sexually assaulted by the psychopath Bill Cosby now stands at 44 and again, Gloria Allred says there are still more to come forward. For every courageous woman that comes forward with her truth there are 10 more too traumatized, afraid, and ashamed to relive their experience by publicly coming forward and adding their names to the growing list of Cosby victims. That means we’re talking HUNDREDS! of women that this evil monster psychopath drugged and sexually assaulted over the course of 50 years (or more)!
A petition urging Outback Concerts, the promoter renting the venue, to postpone the show has garnered more than 9,500 signatures. Brandy Betts, an Atlanta woman organized the petition against the event said, in response to the video, “We are not laughing. We are not smiling. We will be at the Cobb Energy Center May 2 alongside survivors to peacefully protest this show. We will stand in solidarity with all the brave women who have come forward with their stories.”
Cosby must be stopped from performing from now on or ever again, period! Networks planning any future shows featuring Bill Cosby need to hear from outraged viewers and public that this evil monster “celebrity” is not someone they want to feature on any program. It will destroy their ratings! Hopefully they’ll get that!
Can you post a link to the petition if it is still taking signatures?
It is still taking signatures and just this week alone thousands signed the petition! LF readers, if you are outraged by psychopath Cosby’s insistance on performing while these women continue to come forward please sign this petition now!
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/448/699/…/cancel-bill-cosbys-performance/
Latest Cosby legal dodge: Disgraced comic files papers to prevent release of his sealed deposition from 2005 sexual assault lawsuit settled out of court
•Tamara Green – who has accused Cosby of sexual assault – is suing the comedian for defamation
•She and two other alleged victims are demanding that his sealed deposition could contain bombshell evidence that would help her case
•Cosby is demanding the deposition and the settlement details remain confidential
Bill Cosby is pleading with a judge not to unseal his deposition from the 2005 sexual assault lawsuit which sparked a whirlwind of allegations against him – claiming the contents should remain confidential.
Tamara Green – who has accused Cosby, 77, of drugging and sexually assaulting her back in the 70s – is suing the comedian for defamation, claiming he made numerous statements about her being a liar to the media.
Lawyers representing Green, a lawyer herself, recently filed court documents with the U.S. District Court in Springfield, Massachusetts, demanding the court order the 2005 suit – in which Cosby was sued by a woman named Andrea Constand – be unsealed.
Green’s legal team believes the deposition could contain bombshell evidence that would help her case. If Cosby does admit in his deposition to sexually assaulting Constand and other women – Green included ”“ it could pave the way for dozens more civil lawsuits.
Thanks Knownow for posting this.
Love Tamara Green, she has spunk & gumption!!!
Hope she trumpets with unsealing his deposition. Cosby needs to be exposed to the world & put behind bars for good…plus it might just free his wife from Cosby’s brain washing & mind control.
Bravo to all of these victims for finding the strength to come forward!
I suspect the LAPD has credible evidence proving Cosby was at the Playboy Mansion the night he sexually assaulted the woman who recently (January) filed charges against him. He, or his lawyer goons, claim Cosby was in NY at the day in question. If that were true, and if they could prove it, all charges would’ve been dismissed by now. This has not happened and the investigation is going on 4 months. I’m sure the LAPD is reviewing video footage from the mansion, interrogating Hugh Hefner and any other witnesses attending the party. Also, Hefner can be sued for knowledge of Cosby’s habit of drugging and sexually assaulting women at his mansion over many years, as well as his serving alcohol to minors. He is no longer Cosby’s friend and has to be cooperating with the LAPD investigation.
I would love to see on Saturday May 2nd the police interrupting his performance on stage with “Bill Cosby, you are under arrest for the sexual assault and rape of (victim)”. Advised of his rights, he is then slapped with handcuffs and led away in front of his “fans”! Do you think they’d get it then??
I hope it’s true that the LAPD is building a good case against him….and it would be great for the police to arrest him while on stage but highly doubtful 🙁
I image that there have been unreported sexual assaults at the playboy mansion not just with Cosby although it was a perfect hide out for Cosby evil doings. I think when Huge Hefner dies lots of “tell all” books will be written with the truth behind those closed doors. Holly Madison (Hefner ex gf) recently came out after seeing the Church of Scientology Documentary “Going Clear” and stated that after watching that documentary she felt like the Playboy Mansion was a cult just like Scientology.
Hopefully all of these victims will get their day in court against what we know is an evil sociopath named Cosby.
Rape allegations against Bill Cosby in Atlantic City. Actress Lili Bernard talks to Atlantic City police, says Bill Cosby drugged and raped her. It could be prosecuted – New Jersey has no statute of limitations on rape.
Bill Cosby rape allegation made in Atlantic City, on Press of Atlantic City.com
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/breaking/criminal-complaint-made-against-bill-cosby-in-atlantic-city-lawyer/article_404bb0ac-f59a-11e4-9c43-e7b730e1314c.html
WOW Donna, every time a new victim comes forward & the article is posted here at LF, I think about you as a young girl giving him a ride that day & what could have happened to you. This latest is a ironic twist in this nightmare of a story in the fact that you were a victim of a sociopath later, created this wonderful site for other victims & now a trial of the century could take place right in your home town where your story of the Cosby connection began.
I hope this Prosecutor not only opens the doors to the court room but slams the door closed to Cosby Atlantic city jail cell & you get an interview of him in jail (wont that be ironic twist of fate if you got an interview him after all – not that you would want too). What better more fitting place for him to end up in jail then in one of the cities he performed on stage.
I am so happy all of these brave woman have come forward the strength in them is absolutely incredible along with Gloria Allred!!