9 more women sue Bill Cosby for alleged sexual assaults decades ago

June 15, 2023 / 4:28 pm

caption: In a new lawsuit, nine women accuse Bill Cosby of using his "power, fame and prestige" to sexually assault them. The 85-year-old is pictured in 2018 arriving for his sexual assault conviction sentencing hearing in Norristown, Pa.

Nine more women are accusing Bill Cosby of sexual assault in a new lawsuit, shortly after the state dropped its statute of limitations on such cases.

The lawsuit, filed in Nevada federal court on Wednesday, alleges that the 85-year-old actor and comedian "used his enormous power, fame, and prestige" to isolate and assault them. The women say that Cosby drugged and assaulted them during encounters that took place between 1979 and 1992 in homes, dressing rooms and hotels across Nevada.

Updated June 15, 2023 at 7:54 PM ET

The lawsuit comes just two weeks after Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo signed a bill eliminating the two-year deadline for adults to sue their alleged perpetrators for damages from sexual abuse. Cosby faces other sexual assault lawsuits in California, New York and New Jersey, states that have approved similar "lookback laws."

In the Nevada lawsuit, the plaintiffs also allege that Cosby claimed interest in helping them or their careers as a pretense to isolate and sexually assault them.

Among them is former model and reality TV star Janice Dickinson, who testified against Cosby in his 2018 criminal trial in Pennsylvania to demonstrate that the comedian's alleged 2004 assault of Andrea Constand wasn't an isolated case. According to the recently filed lawsuit, Dickinson was allegedly raped by Cosby at a hotel in Lake Tahoe after taking a pill Cosby gave her to deal with her menstrual pain.

Cosby spent nearly three years in state prison for drugging and sexually assaulting Constand, a former employee of the women's basketball team at Cosby's alma mater, Temple University, before his conviction was overturned and he was released in 2021. Last year, Cosby was ordered to pay $500,000 in damages to a woman who said he sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion when she was 16.

Over the years, more than 60 women have accused Cosby of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment. He continues to deny all allegations.

Cosby publicist Andrew Wyatt blasted the plaintiffs' complaint in a statement emailed to NPR on Thursday.

"It is disappointing to see that these alleged distractors are able to monetize false allegations against Mr. Cosby," Wyatt said. "The Merson Law Firm along with these alleged distractors are fueling false narratives for the potential of media fame and greed. Mr. Cosby continues to invoke his Constitutional Rights by saying, "Not Guilty" and vehemently denying all of these alleged allegations waged against him."