Three More Women Accuse Bill Cosby of Sexual Assault
Three more women came forward today in a press conference organized by Gloria Allred to accuse Bill Cosby of sexual assault. Linda Kirkpatrick, Lynn Neal, and Kacey (no last name given) all shared their similar stories, at times breaking down into tears. All say fears of retaliation prevented them from speaking out sooner.
Kirkpatrick says she was drugged and assaulted in 1981 when she was 25, after playing in a tennis tournament against Cosby in Las Vegas. He invited her to his show after the tournament, where he gave her a drink. "I knew something was terribly terribly wrong with whatever I had consumed in the drink he gave me," she says. He then allegedly assaulted her in his dressing room.
Kirkpatrick says Cosby called her the next day to apologize, and that he invited her back to his show. He allegedly assaulted her again that night, using force instead of drugs, since Kirkpatrick says she was careful not to drink anything at the show.
Lynn Neal says Cosby assaulted her sometime between 1982 and 1983 when she was in her twenties. She says he drugged and raped her at one of his shows, as well. "I know that there are people out there who know what this man has been doing all these years," she says.
Kacey recalls that Cosby assaulted her while she was working as an assistant to one of his agents, Tom Illius, at the William Morris Agency between 1990 and 1996. Kacey she considered Cosby "a father figure, or a favorite uncle" at the time. He invited her to lunch at his suite in an LA hotel one day, where he allegedly forced her to take "a large white pill." Kacey says he asked her "would i give you anything that would hurt you?" when she tried to refuse the pill. She says after consuming the pill she woke up to see him naked in bed beside her. She quit her job shortly after.
Allred says the statute of limitations has run out in all three of these cases. Cosby has not yet responded to any of the claims.
Yesterday, Phylicia Rashad defended Cosby, urging the public to "forget these women" who have accused him of rape. Allred condemned her today: "Phylicia, you should be supporting these women rather than joining Cosby's paid 'attack dogs.'"