Bill Cosby might be out of jail but he’s not free from legal trouble. The disgraced comedian’s latest legal setback comes in the form of a sexual assault lawsuit filed by a former Playboy model.
On Thursday, attorneys for Victoria Valentino filed a civil sexual assault lawsuit against Cosby, 85, in Los Angeles County Superior Court for an alleged drugging and raping incident that reportedly took place back in 1969. According to The Washington Post, the suit comes in response
to a new California law that gives accusers who say they were sexually assaulted while they were adults a one-year window to seek damages no matter how long ago the alleged crimes took place.Valentino is crediting E. Jean Carrol’s recent civil court win against Donald Trump for alleged sexual assault for giving her the confidence to go after The Cosby Show star.
“It’s not about money, it’s about accountability,” Valentino, 80, said. “Rape steals something from you that cannot be repaired or restored.”
“Her winning her case was affirmation we were doing the right thing,” Valentino added.
The former actress and singer recalls meeting Cosby in 1969 during an audition following the drowning death of her 6-year-old son, NBC News reports. She met him a second time at a restaurant while dining with a roommate and hung out with him after he offered to pay for a spa date and dinner.
Valentino claims that Cosby, who had just starred in the hit TV show “I Spy” at the time, gave her a pill.
Valentino’s suit follows six other women who filed suits against Cosby last year under a similar law in New York and years of women coming forward with claims of being sexually assaulted by Cosby throughout his decades-long career.“Here! Take this!” she alleges Cosby told her. “It will make you feel better. It will make us ALL feel better.”
A spokesperson for Cosby is blasting Valentino’s lawsuit as a cash grab that’s seemingly attempting to disgrace another Black male entertainer, in the wake of R. Kelly’s imprisonment for sex trafficking.
“In my opinion, these women are not victims of sexual assault, they are victims of greed,” Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt said.
“They don’t want this Black man to leave this earth as America’s dad. They don’t want white kids looking up to him as America’s dad and wanting their fathers to be like him,”
Cosby has remained in seclusion since being released from prison in 2021 after his sentence for drugging and raping Temple University professor Andrea Constand was overturned due to a previous non-prosecution agreement related to the same alleged incident.
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