5 women sue Bill Cosby for sexual assault and abuse under new NY lookback law - CNN

CNN  — 

Two erstwhile actresses connected “The Cosby Show” are among 5 women who filed a suit against Bill Cosby successful New York authorities tribunal connected Monday accusing him of intersexual battle and maltreatment dating backmost decades.

The 34-page suit is brought by the actresses Lili Bernard and Eden Tirl arsenic good arsenic Jewel Gittens, Jennifer Thompson and Cindra Ladd. The suit names arsenic defendants Cosby and the media companies NBCUniversal Media, Kaufman Astoria Studios and The Carsey-Werner Company, which unneurotic ran “The Cosby Show” from 1984 to 1992.

The suit accuses Cosby of assault, battery, infliction of affectional distress and mendacious imprisonment and accuses the media companies of negligence.

“Each plaintiff was sexually assaulted and battered by suspect Bill Cosby successful the aforesaid oregon akin mode erstwhile helium utilized his power, fame, and prestige, including the power, fame and prestige fixed to him by [the] defendants … to misuse his tremendous powerfulness successful specified a nefarious, horrific way,” the suit states.

“Now, these 5 Plaintiffs person travel guardant to basal up for themselves and others, aft they were sexually abused and assaulted by Bill Cosby.”

In a statement, Cosby spokesperson Andrew Wyatt called the suit “frivolous” and denied the allegations.

“As we person ever stated and present America spot [sic] that this isn’t astir justness for victims of alleged intersexual battle but it’s ALL ABOUT MONEY,” helium wrote successful a statement. “We judge that the courts arsenic good arsenic the tribunal of nationalist sentiment volition travel the rules of instrumentality and relieve Mr. Cosby of these alleged accusations. Mr. Cosby continues to vehemently contradict each allegation [sic] waged against him and looks guardant to defending himself successful court.”

NBC, Carsey-Warner and Kaufman Astoria did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

The suit was filed nether New York’s Adult Survivors Act, passed past month, which gives big survivors of intersexual maltreatment a one-year model to writer their abusers adjacent if the statute of limitations connected their claims has expired.

The instrumentality mirrors the state’s Child Victims Act of 2019, which likewise opened a two-year model for kid enactment maltreatment survivors to writer their abusers. That instrumentality yielded astir 10,600 lawsuits, including a prominent lawsuit against Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein. (Prince Andrew denied wrongdoing and agreed to settle the case.)

The thought of the lookback model is that galore victims of intersexual maltreatment instrumentality years to publically talk astir their traumas, and this instrumentality would springiness them an accidental to yet person their time successful court.

The allegations successful Monday’s suit reflector longstanding accusations against Cosby, the 85-year-old comedian and histrion erstwhile known arsenic “America’s Dad” for his nationalist persona arsenic an upstanding begetter figure.

According to the suit, Cosby drugged and raped Bernard, who played Mrs. Minifield connected “The Cosby Show,” successful New Jersey and Nevada successful 1990 and astatine his Manhattan location successful 1991. Bernard has previously spoken retired astir Cosby’s alleged abuse and spoke connected the steps extracurricular the courthouse astatine his transgression trials.

Tirl, who had a tiny relation arsenic a constabulary serviceman connected “The Cosby Show,” alleges that Cosby inappropriately touched her without consent successful his dressing country successful 1989. She besides alleges that Cosby said helium “owned” NBC, the suit states.

Gittens alleges Cosby invited her to his Manhattan location successful 1989 oregon 1990 to sermon moving connected “The Cosby Show” but past drugged her and sexually assaulted her.

Thompson alleges Cosby made her inappropriately interaction him without her consent astatine his Manhattan location successful 1988 erstwhile she was 18. Ladd alleges Cosby drugged her and raped her successful 1969.

In 2014 and 2015, more than 50 women came forward with akin allegations that helium gave them drugs to incapacitate them, assaulted them and past utilized his wealthiness and stature successful the amusement manufacture to unit them to stay silent.

He was charged successful 2015 with the intersexual battle of Andrea Constand and – aft a archetypal proceedings ended with a hung assemblage – was convicted successful 2018 successful the archetypal large proceedings of the #MeToo movement. He was sentenced to 3 to 10 years successful situation and was released successful 2021 erstwhile the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned his conviction, saying his owed process rights were violated.

Earlier this year, a Los Angeles assemblage found Cosby liable successful a civilian case brought by Judy Huth, a pistillate who said helium sexually assaulted her arsenic a teen successful the 1970s.