Bill Cosby faces a new sexual assault lawsuit, this one in the state of Nevada. A case in the name of nine women was filed in the U.S. District Court for Nevada, alleging that the disgraced actor and comedian exercised his “enormous power, fame and prestige” to isolate and sexually assault the individuals named in the case.
Per NBC News, a group of the women will speak in an interview on “NBC News Daily” on Thursday. Pam Joy Abeyta, Lili Bernard, Rebecca Cooper, Janice Dickinson, Lise-Lotte Lublin, Linda Kirkpatrick, Janice Baker Kinney, Angela Leslie and Heidi Thomas are named in the case.
Cosby was convicted of a criminal sexual assault charge in Pennsylvania in April 2018. However, in 2021, the actor was released from prison after spending nearly three years behind the bars; the conviction was overturned by the state Supreme Court. The actor, now 85 years old, has discussed plans for a comedy tour.
In a statement to Variety, Cosby’s spokesperson, Andrew Wyatt, confirms the new lawsuit and opposes the allegations detailed in it.
“It’s interesting that these ‘Look Back Windows’ are formulating only in those states (New Jersey, New York, Los Angeles and Nevada) where many of Mr. Cosby’s alleged accusers reside. It makes all Americans ask the question, ‘Who’s funding these alleged accusers and who’s funding these lawmakers?’” Wyatt wrote. “Mr. Cosby is a Citizen of [the] United States, but these judges and lawmakers are consistently allowing these civil suits to flood their dockets — knowing that these women are not fighting for victims — but for their addiction to massive amounts of media attention and greed. From this day forward, we will not continue to allow these women to parade various accounts of an alleged allegation against Mr. Cosby anymore without vetting them in the court of public opinion and inside of the courtroom.”
More than 60 women have made public statements accusing Cosby of sexual misconduct. Though the events of these allegations are many years old, lawsuits similar to this one have emerged as states have altered statutes defining how courts field sexual misconduct cases. At the end of May, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo signed a law eliminating the statute of limitations for state civil cases, including sexual abuse cases involving adults. Prior to that, Nevada enforced a two-year cutoff for alleged victims to bring cases to court.
More to come…