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Bill Cosby: Lawsuit, Possible Boycott & More
A woman files lawsuit claiming Bill Cosby molested her when she was 15 years old, the comedian is facing a possible show boycott in Canada, and Indiana St. Univ. is monitoring developments in advance of March gig.
Photo: Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP
Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts in Melbourne, Fla.
New Lawsuit Brings Cosby Abuse Claims Into Court
A lawsuit by a woman who claims Bill Cosby molested her when she was 15 years old has moved allegations of sexual misconduct against the comedian from the court of public opinion into the courthouse.
Judy Huth’s lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles accuses Cosby of forcing her to perform a sex act on him in a bedroom of the Playboy Mansion around 1974. She is the latest woman to accuse the comedian of sex abuse, and is the first one since 2005 to file a lawsuit.
Cosby has been beset for weeks by allegations by more than a dozen women that he drugged and sexually assaulted them in incidents spanning several decades. The comedian has not been criminally charged and many of the claims are so old, they are barred by statutes of limitations.
Huth’s lawsuit, however, contends that she became aware of the serious effect the abuse had on her within the past three years. California law allows victims of sex abuse when they were minors to bring a claim after adulthood if they discover later in life that they suffered psychological injuries as a result of the abuse.
Cosby has not been criminally charged, but Netflix and NBC have scuttled projects featuring the comedian and several shows on his comedy tour have also been canceled.
His attorney Martin Singer did not return an email message seeking comment Tuesday night.
Huth’s sexual battery and infliction of emotional distress lawsuit states that she and a 16-year-old friend first met Cosby at a Los Angeles-area film shoot and the comedian gave the girls drinks a week later at a tennis club.
The lawsuit states that Cosby took them to the Playboy Mansion after several drinks, and told the teenagers to lie and say they were 19 years old if asked. Her lawsuit states Cosby forced her to perform a sex act on him with her hand.
“This traumatic incident, at such a tender age, has caused psychological damage and mental anguish for (Huth) that has caused significant problems throughout her life,” the lawsuit states.
Huth’s lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court is the first time a woman has gone public claiming Cosby abused her when she was underage. A second woman told Pittsburgh television station KDKA last month that Cosby drugged her to the point of unconsciousness in the 1980s when she was 15.
The suit does not specify how much Huth is seeking from Cosby.
Singer has denied previous accusations or said the women raising the claims in interviews had been discredited.
Singer’s statement does not apply to a lawsuit brought in 2005 by Andrea Constand, who claimed Cosby drugged and molested her at his suburban Philadelphia mansion in 2004. Constand, who worked for the women’s basketball team at Temple University, and Cosby settled the case before trial.
Cosby resigned from the university’s board of trustees on Monday. He had been the school’s public face, appearing in advertisements, fundraising campaigns and delivering commencement speeches.
Photo: Mike Bradley
Crown Theatre, Fayetteville, N.C.
Call For Boycotting A Bill Cosby Show In Canada
Bill Cosby’s three shows in Canada in January are still on the calendar, but there is a call to boycott his performance in London, Ontario.
“To have him appear in public is inconsistent with the values of London,” said Megan Walker, executive director of the London Abused Women’s Centre, who issued the call following renewed accusations that the comedian drugged and sexually assaulted more than a dozen women over several decades.
“We need to stand on the side of women who have the courage to come forward, instead of Mr. Cosby,” Walker said. “Very clearly from what we’ve heard, he isn’t Cliff Huxtable.”
Cosby denies wrongdoing and has not been criminally charged.
As controversy has grown, Cosby’s scheduled Netflix concert special was canceled and NBC scrapped a new Cosby sitcom in development. Meanwhile, the 77-year-old star has lost nine of some three dozen concert dates extending until next May.
All three of his shows in Canada are proceeding despite the allegations.
Cosby is scheduled to appear at the Centre in the Square in Kitchener, Ontario, on Jan. 7, and at the Budweiser Gardens in London on Jan. 8.
Scott Warren, the general manager of Hamilton Place Theatre in Hamilton, Ontario, where Cosby is scheduled to perform on Jan. 9, said the theater is bound by a contract with the promoter and would risk being sued if the show were canceled.
Walker is hoping Cosby will cancel the London show himself and said that if the show does go on, a protest will be staged outside the venue.
Messages left with the promoter, Chicago-based Innovation Arts & Entertainment, were not immediately returned.
Photo: Jason Moore
Durham Performing Arts Center, Durham, N.C.
Indiana State Watching Cosby Case Ahead Of Show
An Indiana State University official says it is monitoring developments regarding sexual-assault allegations against comedian Bill Cosby ahead of his scheduled March performance at the school.
The university president’s chief of staff says administrators are watching what is happening with Cosby’s shows elsewhere as the controversy continues.
Indiana State isn’t sponsoring the scheduled March 6 show at Tilson Auditorium, and chief of staff Teresa Exline tells the Tribune-Star the school is in ongoing conversations with the event promoter.
The 77-year-old Cosby has faced renewed accusations that he drugged and sexually assaulted more than a dozen women over several decades. Cosby denies wrongdoing and has not been criminally charged.